Trouble in Paradise
by kp0282
Summary: It's not always Maureen who has secrets from their past. Primarily MaureenJoanne, other characters are involved however. First fanfic! Disclaimer: I do not own Rent.
1. Chapter 1

Maureen had woken up early this morning. Joanne and her had a fight last night, so when she heard the shower turn on this morning she actually got up. She went into the kitchen, fixed Joanne some poptarts, she was never much of a cook, and sat at the table waiting on Joanne. She wanted to fix this; they had actually been getting along so well lately, she didn't want another stupid fight, which she knew was totally her fault…which she'd never admit to Joanne however, to cause problems.

Joanne had finished her shower and was walking down the hall, actually contemplating waking Maureen up to apologize. _She'd be so pissed if I woke her but I really…_

"Holy shit" she gasped as she walked into the kitchen. Obviously Maureen being awake before 11 am was a total shock. "What are you doing up?" looking confused yet pleased.

Maureen got up from her chair and walked over to Joanne, poptarts in hand. "I'm sorry Pookie" she replied as she reached out the poptarts to Joanne. Joanne couldn't do anything but laugh, trying to contain some of it knowing Maureen was trying to have a serious moment, at the sight of Maureen with her poptarts. "I love you Pookie" Maureen continued, "and I hate it when we fight". Maureen flashed her famous puppy dog eyes and pouted her lips, knowing very well this would help her cause.

Joanne couldn't help but think how damn cute Maureen actually looked right now, so vulnerable and damn cute. She smiled as she wrapped her arms around Maureen, lightly kissing her. Maureen took this as that Joanne forgave her and quickly turned the light kiss into a passionate _I love you, I'm sorry _kiss.

"I love you too" Joanne finally replied as Maureen eventually released her from her grips. Joanne knowing if she didn't leave soon she'd be late for work, grabbed a poptart and headed for the door, "thanks for breakfast honeybear, see you this evening."

Maureen was curled up on the couch almost asleep, I mean she had gotten up earlier than usual this morning, when she heard the front door knob being turned. Her eyes shot open as her body froze it was almost shaking she was so scared. It was noon on Thursday, _who the hell could it be. It couldn't be Joanne, she never comes home early or for lunch, if it were someone else they would have called, a burglar maybe? _

The door swung open to reveal Joanne, she was smiling ear to ear causing Maureen to do the same. She completely forgot how scared she was just a few seconds ago bouncing over to the door in excitement, "what are you doing home!"

"I love you" she replied as she walked into the apartment shutting the door behind her and quickly pulling Maureen's body close to hers. She gave her a gentle comforting kiss on the lips. She sat down her briefcase on the table and turned back around to Maureen who was trying to contain her excitement. "I finished up some meetings early, so I thought I'd come home and surprise you, surprised?"

"Ecstatic" Maureen quickly responded as she wrapped her arms around Joanne's waist, pulling her into a deep passionate kiss.

"Exactly what I had in mind" Joanne replied with a smirk.

Maureen smiled as she grabbed hold of Joanne's belt loops and led her to the couch; the bedroom was too far away. Knowing Joanne wouldn't have long, Maureen wasted no time. She quickly had her into another deep sensual kiss, laying her onto the couch.

Maureen and Joanne lay on the couch, their bodies intertwined with one another. Joanne had fallen asleep and Maureen was laying there just staring at her. Maureen had finally realized that Joanne was the one she wanted to always be with, moments like this just reminded her of that. She reached over and lightly kissed Joanne's forehead.

"What time is it?" Joanne mumbled.

"It's about 1 o'clock"

"Oh shit, I gotta go. I have a meeting at 1:30" Joanne jumped off the couch and raced around gathering her belongings and redressing. Maureen lay on the couch giggling at how frantic Joanne had become. Joanne swung up the front door ready to race back to work…

"Pookie?" she heard from the couch, in a rather sad tone.

_Oh yeah. _Joanne ran back over to the couch kissing Maureen goodbye, "I love you. I'll be back home around 5:30." Joanne rushed out the door praying she would make it back in time for her meeting.

As Maureen lay on the couch she began thinking of Joanne naturally. _Wonder why she decided to come home for, that's so not like her. I wonder what's going on. Huh, oh well. I just had to best sex of my life…and I'm going to have more at 5:30. _She drifted off to sleep anticipating the fun yet to come that evening.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, so kind of disappointed, no reviews last chapter. I was hoping for something seeing how this was my first fanfic. So either no one read it or no one liked it…something. Still, however please don't be too harsh, but constructive criticism is always welcomed. Please R&R. I do not own Rent or any of the characters, however I have created my own character in this chapter.**

Joanne went rushing into the building, out of breath; she had made it back in time. As she got off the elevator she briskly walked down the hall back to her office, hoping no one would notice her coming back late.

"Joanne, there you are," she heard from behind her. _Damn it. _She slowing turned around to see a tall, built black man practically running down the hallway to catch up to her. "I've been looking for you for the last hour. I wanted to see if you wanted to go out to lunch, maybe tomorrow?" the man paused waiting for a reply, but Joanne just stood there not really knowing what to say to him. "Well," he continued "where were you?"

Flustered, Joanne mumbled, "I went home for lunch" _and had sex with my girlfriend, _this thought caused a little smirk to come over Joanne's face.

Looking slightly confused by her statement and smirk, "Huh, didn't really figure you the type to really take a lunch break. You are always so busy, no nonsense type of lawyer. I like that about you Joanne." He smiled, knowing flattery always got you somewhere, especially with women.

_Wow does he have the prettiest smile and those eyes, so dark and…_She suddenly snapped out of this trance that he had somehow caught her in, "Yeah, well I have a meeting so…yeah I should probably go." She quickly turned and headed back to her office, half thankful to be out of that conversation and half wondering if he was watching her walk away.

She had set down at her desk, trying to quickly review some points for her meeting. However, she was having a hard time getting him out of her mind. He was actually a new lawyer at the firm, his name was Steve Carter. She actually knew him from high school; he was her high school sweetheart. They had started dated the summer between their sophomore and junior year. She was completely in love with him…or at least she thought she was in love with him. They had dated until their sophomore year of college. She had went to NYU, while he went to Brown. She was the one who had broke it off. She had met Kelly, her first girlfriend, who to this day Maureen didn't like hearing about. However, Joanne didn't tell Steve about Kelly, she just used the whole, "we are growing apart" speech. Actually, she didn't even think Steve knew she was gay.

Steve had been hired about a week ago, by who other than her mom. Joanne's mom had always held onto this dream that Joanne would settle down with a nice man and buy a house with a white picket fence and have her some grandchildren. So, when Steve's application came across her mom's desk, he was almost hired on the spot. Joanne knew her mom did it just because of her dream of Joanne marrying a man, particularly Steve. Joanne had always thought her mom was more upset about their breakup than either of them were at the time.

Joanne was deep into her thoughts when she was startled by a loud pounding at her down. "Come in." Joanne's mom walked in.

"Oh hi baby. Did you see Steve? He was looking for you, something about lunch or dinner, something. Where were you? You should go out to dinner with him tonight. He's so nice Joanne, I'm sure he'd love to take you out somewhere nice tonight. You guys always looked so cute together. Did you see him in that suit?" Her mom was talking so fast Joanne couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Mom", she finally interrupted, "I have a meeting." Joanne got up and walked out. As she got to the doorway, she turned around looking at her mom, "and I'm not going to dinner or anywhere with Steve, we're over, we have been over for quite awhile, I love Maureen mom, you remember her, the hot brunette! I don't have feelings like that for Steve anymore," she paused and with a smirk added, "or any man".

Joanne walked to the conference room, her head held high for the fact of what she had said to her mom. She was never good at standing up to her mom.

The meeting had begun with yet another lawyer rambling on about some new case. Joanne's mind started wondering off; surprisingly to Joanne her thoughts weren't off Maureen, but of Steve. A_re my feelings really over for Steve? I just can't seem to get him out of my head. I love Maureen, don't I? And why did I go home for lunch today, that's not like me. Did I really go home for lunch because I love Maureen and I just wanted to see her or just because I needed to remind myself I was with Maureen?_

**There is my stab at ch. 2. Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**YAY I got reviews and good ones. Thanks for those who reviewed, much appreciated. Please R&R. Hope everyone else likes this one, this chapter is _mainly_ fluff. **

On the way home Joanne was almost feeling guilty for going home for lunch. She felt as though somehow she had just used her girlfriend. She loved Maureen. I mean geez she had to of look at what all she had put up with from her. But seeing Steve again after all these years, there was just something so comfortable and safe about him.

She had been so lost in her thoughts, she nearly missed her stop. Joanne got off the subway and made her way up to the busy New York streets. She had made up her mind that she was going to tell Maureen about Steve. Even though nothing really had happened between her and Steve, she felt she needed to tell Maureen about him and that he was working with her now. She knew Maureen wouldn't be too happy about it, but Maureen trusted her. Plus, she didn't want any secrets between them, their relationship was…perfect.

Joanne took a deep breath before opening the door; she was determined to tell Maureen. She opened the door and was consumed into Maureen's arms. Joanne automatically dropped her stuff right inside the doorway, kicking the door shut behind her. Steve was now the furthest thing from her mind. Maureen had pushed Joanne's back up against the door, embracing her into an _I want you now_ kiss. This was so nice, exactly where both of them wanted to be at the moment.

Maureen pulled away breathing heavily she mouthed, "follow me". Maureen grabbed Joanne's hand leading her into the kitchen.

_Damn she looks hot in those jeans. And that top are you kidding me. Wow, do I have the hottest girlfriend or what_. Joanne was hoping Maureen was leading her to the bedroom, but no luck there, for now anyway.

As they walked into the kitchen, Joanne was taken back by the overwhelming smell of the dinner Maureen had made for them. It almost brought tears to Joanne's eyes, Maureen never cooked and she could tell that Maureen had spent the majority of the afternoon conjuring this up.

"Baby you didn't have to do this," she was holding back the tears. She leaned over and gently kissed her.

"I know, I wanted to," She smiled realizing how happy she had made Joanne.

Maureen led Joanne over to the table where they shared a very romantic dinner. Maureen had filled the kitchen with flowers and lit candles. She was so proud of herself.

As they finished dinner, they began making their way down the hallway. Knocking pictures off the wall and numerous other items sitting on random furniture in their path. They were both half undressed and panting by the time they reached the bedroom doorway. Then what they both least wanted to hear, the phone ringing.

"Damn it," frustrated Joanne released Maureen from her grasps and turned to go answer the phone.

"Just don't answer it Pookie" Maureen replied as she grabbed Joanne pulling her into the room, kissing her neck, lips, basically any part of her body she could get her lips on at the moment.

"I have to, hold on. Be right back, promise." Joanne replied as she quickly pecked Maureen on the lips and ran down the hall.

Frustrated Maureen, sat down on the bed, _damn it how dare she answer the phone. Aren't I more important than a damn phone call? How'd she even hear the phone ring, wasn't she more into what we were doing than listening for the phone to ring? I mean she loves when I…_

"Maureen, get dressed we got to go" Joanne frantically told her as she rushed into the bedroom. "It's Mark."

**So I really don't know what has happened to Mark yet. I do have a few ideas floating around in my head however. So any ideas, comments, or suggestions would be appreciated. This is going to remain however primarily a JoanneMaureen fic.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I hope everyone likes this one, enjoy. I found this chapter easier to write from Maureen's POV, so it is. Please R&R. **

(Maureen's POV)

I was so scared on the ride to the hospital; Joanne and I didn't even speak the entire cab ride. We just sat in the back of the cab, our hands latching onto one another, sharing our worries and strengths together. Mimi hadn't really told Joanne anything but that Mark was in the hospital and to hurry. Part of me didn't want the cab ride to end. That would mean we were at the hospital and I didn't want to have to face the unknown within that place.

Eventually though the cab ride did end and I was walking into the last place I wanted to be at the moment. I was latching onto Joanne for dear life, _I'm glad she's here with me_. As the elevator doors opened, we both took a deep breath and walked onto the floor. It was so depressing within those walls. In the background, I could hear random monitors beeping, people sobbing, and patients screaming. Does anything ever good happen here, from my experiences no. We finally reached the waiting room where we found Mimi and Collins sitting in silence. Mimi's face was smeared with mascara, dead give away she'd been crying. Collins of course was being his usual supportive self, his arm around Mimi rubbing her shoulder.

"What's wrong with him?" that's about all I could muster up to ask.

Collins eyes slowly looked up to meet mine. His eyes looked so sad, almost as sad as they looked the day Angel had died. My heart dropped. "Well, they aren't sure. They've been running tests, they don't know anything yet, they won't until the morning. Roger and Eden are with him now."

Eden was this girl Mark had met in the park about two months ago, they've been inseparable since. I don't like her.

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Finally, Joanne and I got to go in and see Mark. One of Eden's friends was a nurse on the floor and she had allowed all of us to go in to see him. _Good ole Eden and her connections to the rescue._

He actually didn't look to bad, for a guy in the hospital. I mean, he didn't look like he could run a marathon, but then again he never did beforehand. They had a couple of IVs hooked up to him, with some medication which I could hardly pronounce running in him. He smiled as we walked in, a forced smile, but a smile.

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No one could speak; everyone was at a loss for words, a first for us.

"Anyone thirsty? I saw a vending machine down the hall," of course Mimi was making sure everyone was ok. I think she was just wanting to break the silence, I'm personally glad she had spoken up.

Finally, Joanne responded, "Come on Mimi, we'll go get everyone something." They got up and walked out, of course not before giving their respective partners a comforting kiss goodbye.

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"Here you guys go." I turned around to see Mimi walking back into the room alone, an armful of drinks in tow.

"Where's Joanne?" I was kind of puzzled by her absence.

"Oh, she said she was going to the bathroom, she'd be right back."

Satisfied with her response, I returned my attention to Mark. He had fallen asleep, but no one could seem to be able to leave; we were all too worried. But still no one was talking. Eden was sitting on the bed, holding Mark's hand. Roger and Mimi occupied one seat, while I had the other one. Collins had found himself a comfortable spot on the empty bed in the room. By now, the silence had become deafening; _wish Joanne would come back_, I needed her here. Looking up at the clock I realized it had been like ten minutes since Mimi had come back, _wonder what happened to Joanne_?

"Hey, I'm going to try and go find Joanne. Which way to the bathroom?"

"Down the hall, take a left, it's on your right" the uptown snob on the bed muttered, without taking her eyes off of Mark. I just smiled and walked out, for Mark's sake.

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_There she is who's that_? She was standing at the end of the hall talking to some guy. He was wearing a suit and had no stethoscope; therefore I figured he's not a doctor. Upon watching them closer I realized she's flirting with him. _Look at her, she's giggling, touching him and he's doing just the same. He can't seem to keep from touching her. Oh no Maureen Johnson is not standing for this, she's flirting with some guy while her girlfriend is sitting in a room, in pain, hurting, needing her_.

About the time I was ready to storm down the hall, I noticed Eden standing behind me.

"So I see you found her" she smirked.

"Yeah, looks like I did." I just walked away, cause if not I may have hit her.

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By the time I reached Joanne, the strange man had left. "Hey Pookie. Who were you talking to?" I was trying to remain calm and not jump to any conclusions.

"Oh him? He's a guy I work with at the firm. He's new." Her eyes never met mine when she was talking.

"You looked awful friendly with him." I was getting a little aggravated; I knew she wasn't telling me something.

She wrapped her arms around me, "Oh honeybear, are you jealous? How cute." She flashed me one of those irresistible smiles of hers. I hated when she did that, it always made me melt and I usually forgot what I was mad about in the first place. But not this time that guy had his hands all over my girlfriend and I wanted some answers.

I guess she could tell that I was being serious because she loosened her grip and looked a little deeper into my eyes. "Maureen are you serious?"

"Joanne you two were clearly flirting earlier, I saw you. I was standing down the hall." She looked like she was a little kid who was just caught with her hand in the cookie jar, this worried me.

"I wasn't flirting Maureen." This came out quite blunt and harsh. "We were just talking. He's a friend, that's all. Even if I was flirting, not like you have much room to talk."

"Wait a minute" I quickly interrupted, "That's not even fair Joanne. You know that I haven't cheated on you." I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. _Damn it I don't want to fight_. I could tell she was getting heated, she had let go of me, stepping away.

"What were you doing spying on me anyway? Do you not trust me?"

"I wasn't spying. I was worried; you'd been gone for awhile. I was coming to check on you." _Please lets not fight right now, I need you now_. We must have been getting loud because Mimi was quickly beside Joanne, putting her arm around her and walking her back to Mark's room.

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After taking a few minutes to compose myself, I walked back down the hall. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going and bumped into a nurse, Eden's nurse friend of course.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to," I tried to not look at her, I didn't want her to recognize me, I didn't want to have to deal with her now too.

"That's ok," she started to walk away, but then quickly turned back to me, "wait you're one of Eden's boyfriend's friends aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm Maureen." _What the hell does it matter anyway?_

"Oh so you're Maureen, Mark's ex. The girl who dumped him for another girl." She made that last comment with a little laughter in her voice.

I was so frustrated about Mark being in the hospital, Joanne and my fight, and her comment kind of put the icing on the cake.

I just kind of lashed out, "YES I'M A LESBIAN. I'M A GIRL AND I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND. HER NAME I S JOANNE. SHE'S THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME. I LOVE HER. YES I LOVE HER."

I was intentionally saying all of this loud enough for Joanne to hear. Hopefully, this might make up for me questioning her earlier. Next thing I knew I felt someone's hands on my shoulder, _yes it worked_.

"Joanne?" as I spun around I noticed it wasn't Joanne but that it was Collins.

"Hey honey, let's go down to the cafeteria."

_Why hadn't Joanne come out for, why was it Collins_. However, I didn't resist too much though. I just followed him down stairs, I needed a break anyway.

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We went downstairs, sat and talked for awhile so that I could calm down, which I eventually did. Collins was always good at calming me down. He just always seemed to know exactly what to say and even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear, he always had a way of making it seem as nice as possible.

"Let's go back up ok Collins" I had calmed down and I wanted to see Mark and Joanne. He just shook his head and we returned back upstairs.

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When we walked back into Mark's room, we found that Roger and Mimi had left. Eden was again on the bed and Joanne was standing, her back to the door. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She jumped a little, but relaxed when she saw it was me. However, she didn't look like she was anywhere near wanting to talk to me. I rested my chin on her shoulder, laying my head over against hers. "I'm sorry Pookie," I whispered in her ear. It seemed like forever before she responded.

Without moving she mumbled, "It's been a long evening, let's just go home." She walked over a gently kissed Mark's forehead and hugged Eden goodbye; Eden and her actually got along. Then walked over to Collins, thanking him, I'm sure for his part in calming me down. She turned back around facing me, her eyes looked so tired. "Goodbye everyone. Call me tomorrow Eden when you hear anything"

"Of course Joanne, thank you."

And with that Joanne turned and walked out of the room. I too said my goodbyes and walked out. We left the hospital that evening together, not speaking or touching, but at least it was together.

**So there it is. Reviews much appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So here's the next chapter…thanks everyone for the reviews. I have the next two chapters pretty much figured out so hopefully they will be posted soon. Please R&R.**

(Maureen's POV)

We finally got home; we still hadn't spoken a word to each other. I hated this. She walked in the apartment and headed straight for the bathroom. _Damn it Joanne talk to me_. The mood between us was so different the last time we were at the apartment together. I replayed the events of earlier in the evening through my mind, us crashing into the walls, knocking over stuff because we were too into each other to care and then the phone call, then our fight, and now I'm standing here by myself. I had become so lost in my thoughts, I was just now realizing that our answering machine was blinking.

"Hey girls, it's Mimi. One of you call me when you get in ok. I don't care what time it is, I love you both." She sounded genuinely concerned about us. Even though she had so many problems of her own, here she was worried about us.

I quickly picked up the phone and dialed her number.

_Damn it her answering machine_, "Hey you have reached Mimi, try Roger's."

"Meems, its Maureen, you there? Ok I'll try…"

"Hey" her voice still so chipper after such an exhausting evening, how does she do it. "Are you and Joanne ok? What's going on?"

"I wish I knew. You know I went looking for her and when I walked out in the hall, I saw her what seemed to me flirting with some guy. I questioned her about it and now we aren't talking."

"Oh Maureen, I'm sorry. Well it can't be too bad; apparently you two went home together"

"That's true I guess. I just wish she'd quit being so stubborn. Why does she have to be like that for Meems? It just makes me mad sometimes." Apparently, Joanne had finished up in the bathroom and was coming out to talk to me, because when I turned around she was standing behind me staring at me. Mimi was saying something, but I wasn't paying attention to her. I was focused on Joanne. She just shook her head, turned around and went down the hall to our bedroom. "Hey Meems sorry," I interrupted, "but I need to go. Lunch tomorrow?"

"Yeah definitely, no problem. I'll just meet you at the Life at 12, and then maybe we can go see Mark?"

"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, hey and good luck with Joanne. Bye."

I hung up the phone and headed towards our bedroom. I was a woman on a mission. I was going to fix this, I didn't care how. I mean it all kind of seemed a little silly to me anyway, that we were having this huge fight over something so small.

As I reached our bedroom, I took a deep breath before slowly opening the door. My heart was pounding, my stomach in knots again afraid of the unknown within the room. She already had all the lights off and was in bed. I was praying she wasn't asleep yet, though she seemed to be at the time. I climbed in underneath the sheets beside her and put my arm around her.

Softly I started to speak, "Look Joanne, I'm sorry. I never meant to accuse you of anything. Pookie I completely trust you. I love you. And I guess since I do love you so much, I just get worried that you'll leave me because I don't feel like I deserve you sometimes." By this time tears were rolling down my face.

"Maureen," I quietly heard her saying, "I love you too. I hate it when we fight like this." By this time she had turned over and she was facing me. "I just want you to trust me; I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you. And I guess that's why I got so mad, because you questioned me about flirting with some guy." She reached over and wiped the tears from my face. Her hands were so soft, her touch tender and loving; she gazed into my eyes, _she really does love me, and I love her_.

Through the tears I got out, "I know Joanne. It was just that I was so scared for Mark and I needed you there with me, I wanted you there with me. And then I saw you with that guy and I just kind of blew up, overreacted if you will."

"I'm sorry too Maureen. I should have been there for you. And I wanted to be there for you, I always want to be there for you. I just ran into him and we started talking. I'm sorry baby."

We just laid there, staring at each other, not really sure what to say or do now.

"Hey honeybear, did you have to scream all of that out in the hallway?" She kind of chuckled when asking me this.

It made me laugh too, "Well yeah, I wanted everyone to know that I had the best girlfriend that I could have and that I loved her with every fiber of my body."

She smiled, leaned over and kissed me. Even though it had only been earlier that evening that we had last kissed, I really missed her lips against mine.

"Baby, you're a pretty damn good girlfriend yourself you know?" she smiled as I moved closer to her and engulfed her into my arms.

We didn't get much sleep that night.

**So nothing too exciting happened in this chapter, I know…but I needed to get Joanne and Maureen back together. Promise something exciting coming within the next couple of chapters. **


	6. Chapter 6

**So I decided to combine what I was going to make two separate chapters together, seemed to work better this way. Thanks everyone for the reviews, glad everyone is liking it. Getting these good reviews makes me want to write more. **

(Joanne's POV)

I had gotten up early to leave for work. I wanted to make sure I got most of my work done early today in case I had to leave early because of Mark. I quickly got ready, gathered my things, and headed to work.

When I got to the office, about an hour early, there were only a few people in the building. It was kind of spooky it being so quiet in there. I was used to hundreds of people running around, screaming about needing something or other; this was a nice change. However, my office wasn't too quiet for long. I wasn't in there for three minutes and my phone began to ring. The first two were clients with yet some more questions about their cases. Then Maureen called; said she woke up and I was gone and she was worried. She told me she loved me then said she was going back to bed. About five minutes later Steve was walking into my office. Here was this man, so handsome and lovable yet was causing so many problems for me right now. Maybe I should just tell him everything, about Maureen, about my "feelings" for him and see what happens from there. But now wasn't the time, maybe later.

"Good morning Joanne. How's your friend?" he genuinely seemed to care.

"We haven't heard anything yet." I was trying to avoid eye contact. It always seems once you make eye contact with someone it is harder to contain your emotions. I was scared about Mark and my "feelings" for Steve, my emotions were on edge anyway, so I didn't need to chance it.

"Well, how about we go to lunch today, maybe get your mind off of it?" There he went flashing that absolutely adorable smile at me again.

We debated about it for awhile and eventually I agreed to go with him. He had made a very compelling argument. Shortly thereafter he excused himself, said he had a lot of work piled up and left.

About 9:30 I receive the phone call I had been dreading. It was Eden. I could tell she had been crying. I was glad that Roger was there for her. The two of them rarely left Mark's side. The doctors had come in that morning and told them that Mark had a serious, rare infection. They were fairly certain that all he would need however was a few rounds of antibiotics, but there was always that chance that he would need more aggressive treatment, but that they'd talk about that if need be. Eden reassured me she was ok, that Roger was there and that Collins was on his way. She told me she'd be mad if I left work to come over so I obliged to her wishes, sent Mark my love and called Maureen to let her know about Mark. Of course she wasn't up yet so I left it on the machine. I hung up the phone, half glad that Mark was going to be ok and half depressed I hadn't go to talk to Maureen. I happened to notice the clock and realized I had a lot of work left to get done before lunch, better get started.

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(Maureen's POV)

_Wonder what time it is_. I was so tired; I couldn't even open my eyes. I stretched my arms out and realized Joanne's side of the bed was empty, which didn't surprise me. _Oh yeah I talked to her earlier, she's went to work early; I am so not a morning person_. My eyes finally opened to reveal the clock on the wall reading 10:45; I'd better get up if I want to meet Mimi on time. I rolled over to realize that my Pookie had left a note on the nightstand.

_Maureen-_

_I miss you already and I haven't even left for work yet. You are the best thing I could ever ask for Maureen Johnson. I love you._

_Love, Joanne_

She can absolutely be the sweetest. The letter made me feel better about everything. Once I got dressed, I grabbed the letter and folded it up and put it in my back pocket. I wanted to keep it with me, plus show Mimi how sweet my girlfriend was to me. I turned to head out the door, when I noticed that once again our machine was blinking, _we are popular people I guess._

"_Hey baby. Eden just called, quit rolling your eyes," wow did she know me or what, "Mark has an infection. They are giving him some medicine hoping that will work. Eden said Roger and Collins were there and for me not to leave work, but if you want to go, then go. But maybe we can go when I get home. Love you."_

Ok so good, nothing too serious happening with Mark. That's somewhat of a relief. I then realized that I was going to be late for our girls' lunch and rushed out the door to meet Mimi.

xxxxxxxx

We had ate at the Life and decide to go walking around for awhile. We had such a great lunch; I hated to see it end. We talked about Joanne and me, Roger and her, Mark's condition, Eden, and Angel. Our conversations usually at some point went to discussing Angel.

"Hey isn't that Joanne?" Mimi had abruptly stopped in front of this new diner, staring at my girlfriend with a man eating lunch.

"Yeah that is," I was getting slightly irritated, realizing this was the same guy she was talking to at the hospital. I guess Mimi realized I recognized the man as well.

"Is that the guy?"

"Sure is." I was definitely getting fired up.

"Come on Maureen, let's just go. Don't start anything." I could hear the worry in her voice.

"Oh I'm not," I replied rather sarcastically, "I just want to say hi to my girlfriend. Come on." I grabbed Mimi's hand dragging her inside the diner.

We walked in, Mimi being a little hesitant of course. I walked right up to Joanne, not hesitant at all myself.

"Oh hi Maureen, what are you doing here?" She said flustered, yet slightly pleased, I hope.

I didn't respond though, I just sat down beside her and kissed her, I kissed her long and hard.

**Please review. **


	7. Chapter 7

**So here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. It's been kind of a slow couple of days around here so I have two new chapters to post tonight. Please R&R.**

They had completely become focused on one another, forgetting everything and everyone around them. Hands were beginning to roam; faint noises were now coming from both women. It was becoming very awkward for Mimi and Steve by this point. They were just staring at one another, not really sure what to do about the situation. Mimi could no longer stand the tension and awkwardness.

"Excuse me," she leaned over and tapped Maureen's shoulder. "There are other people here."

This caused both women to snap back into reality. Joanne slightly embarrassed, Maureen rather pleased with herself.

"Oh sorry, umm…" Joanne was attempting to compose herself, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Maureen was rubbing Joanne's thigh, smiling, what did she care. "Mimi have a seat. Mimi Marquez, Maureen Johnson, this is Steve Carter, he's a new lawyer at the firm." Joanne was always so formal with introductions.

Mimi extended her hand to the gentleman, which he graciously reciprocated the action. Maureen's response on the other hand to the introduction was to put her arm around Joanne and give him a cocky_, she's mine_, "Hi."

"So…you and Maureen seem rather close!" Steve questioned, dumbfounded from what he had just witnessed.

"Oh we are close, you should see us at home," then she winked at him. Maureen was trying her hardest to make him uncomfortable and to make sure he knew that Joanne was hers. However, she didn't want to just come out and say she was Joanne's girlfriend; she wanted to see if Joanne would say it.

"Maureen is my girlfriend," she had said it, maybe a little reluctantly at first, but she had said it. Maureen couldn't help but to smile from ear to ear after hearing Joanne. She leaned over a lightly kissed Joanne's cheek.

Flustered Steve could only get out, "Well we should get back."

Joanne looked down at her watch and realized that it was getting late, "Yeah we should probably get back soon."

* * *

They were all standing outside the diner, getting ready to part ways. However, the scene was a little awkward. Mimi being her polite self and wanting to break the tension of the situation, walked over to Steve to say goodbye. "Well it was nice meeting you Steve."

"Nice to meet you as well, take care. And Maureen," as he turned to face Maureen he noticed she was leaning all over Joanne and Joanne was smiling and laughing to whatever Maureen was whispering in her ear. This sight not only made Steve mad, but jealous. He was hoping to start his relationship up with Joanne again and now he finds that she has girlfriend. He had never forgotten about Joanne; always comparing every girlfriend to her. This lunch was suppose to be Steve telling Joanne about his feelings and how he wanted to see if they could start dating again. But he kind of chickened out and then Maureen walked in, oh how he hated Maureen.

"Well we should go," Steve finally spoke up; he couldn't stand to watch them together any longer.

"Yeah, we should," Joanne agreed, looking slightly disappointed. "I'll see you both later this evening." She smiled and gently kissed Maureen goodbye.

As Joanne turned to leave, Maureen slapped her ass and of course made sure Steve noticed. This caused Steve to get slightly pissed off. She was rubbing it in his face. She had something that he wanted and he didn't like it.

Joanne and Steve got in the cab and headed back to the firm. Mimi and Maureen decided they'd continue their walk; they surely had a lot more to talk about now.

"Maureen you sure are a piece of work," Mimi chuckled.

"And that's what you love about me Meems." Neither of them could contain their laughter any longer, they just burst out laughing at what all had just happened.


	8. Chapter 8

**This is set in the same day as the last chapter, just that afternoon after Joanne and Steve returned to work. That will become apparent, but just letting you know from the get go. Enjoy! Please R&R.**

(Joanne's POV)

_Yes, I know…I'll get right on that…I'll have it on your desk by five o'clock_…_bye._

Damn, people can be so uptight at this office sometimes. I just want to go home; I do not want to be here today. Shit I have so much work to get done. Better just quite my bitching and get started.

I'd finally got on a roll, completely focused on my work when of course someone decided to pay me a visit. "Come in." I was quite frustrated at the interruption.

The door swung open and a confused Steve walked into my office. _Wow he's going to have a million questions._

"Hello Steve, have a seat" I was surprisingly relaxed at this moment. He looked so lost, like he didn't even know what to say or where to start.

"So…Maureen…she seems…interesting," he finally spoke.

"Yeah, she's great. We've been dating for about two and a half years. We're great." I smiled at the thought of Maureen and how great our relationship has been lately.

"Seems that way. So how long have you known?"

"Known what?" I knew what he was asking; I was trying to avoid it though.

"That you were gay? Is that why you broke up with me?" I could see the hurt in his eyes. I hated that I was the cause of that pain.

"Steve, I didn't want you to know I was leaving you for a girl. I didn't think it was important you know," my mood had quickly dampened.

"Joanne, I loved you," he paused, "I still do love you Joanne."

I couldn't breath, what was I suppose to say to that. I think he realized I was speechless, so he just continued.

"I would do anything for you. I'd be anything you wanted me to be. I'd never hurt you. Please Joanne give us another chance. You know this is just a phase right? What's so bad about us being together?"

"There was nothing ever bad about us. It's just Steve…you're not Maureen."

He just stared at the ground; I could tell containing some strong emotions inside. "If that's what you want," his voice had become angry now. "But you're missing out on something great, you'll regret it, I'll make sure of it."

He stormed out of my office, slamming the door, mumbling something else I couldn't understand. But his last comment kept replaying in my mind, _"I'll make sure of it",_ it had made me quite uneasy. Hopefully, it was just him blowing off steam.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

After that ole so entertaining lunch, I thought I'd stop by after I parted ways with Mimi to say hi to Joanne. Secretly I was also hoping to run into Steve again, rubbing it in his face that I was with Joanne. I totally knew he wanted her, but _guess what Steve-o you can't have her._

I stepped out of the elevator and who do I see first but Steve. He came storming out of Joanne's office, good sign for me.

"Hi Steve," I waved, rather sarcastically. He had started to walk by me, but quickly turned back to stare me straight in the eyes. His eyes were so fierce, he backed me up against the wall, his face only inches from mine.

"Fuck off Maureen Johnson. You think you are just so damn perfect don't you. But Joanne will leave you. She'll see who you really are soon and that she could do so much better; that someone out there could treat her so much better than you do. Well at least it would be in both of your best interest if she did." He turned and stormed down the hall. I was trembling, tears welling up in my eyes. His comments were so sharp and angry. He was almost scaring me. I needed to see Joanne, we had to talk. I need to know where that came from and to reassure myself none of it was true. I needed her to tell me she loves me and I needed to tell her the same.

**Ok so there it was, like it? hate it? Let me know. Not sure when I'll get the next chapter posted, but I'll try not to keep you in suspense too long. Thanks for reading and for the reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

**So I took what 2 days? Not too bad, thought it would be longer. Well this chapter is a little longer than I had expected, but I think it's worth it. Hope you enjoy. Please R&R. Promise I'll post the next chapter soon.**

Joanne was sitting at her desk, her hands covering her face, what the hell just happened. She felt something wet hit her hands, what's this she was crying. Why though; was she upset because she had cause Steve's pain, his comments, or maybe because she had feelings for Steve. No, that couldn't be it, she loves Maureen too much. She felt stupid for even considering the fact she had feelings for Steve any longer. About then a frantic Maureen burst into her office, she quickly wiped her tears away and tried to compose herself before Maureen noticed anything was wrong.

"Pookie, what the…" she was basically screaming as she made her way into her office, "baby," her tone became much softer, "are you ok? What's wrong? What did Steve say, I saw him leaving here." Joanne could see the concern in her eyes and how protective she was becoming.

Maureen walked over to Joanne and knelt down in front of her. Maureen wiped some stray tears from Joanne's check, "Joanne?" She could tell something was wrong, by now her stomach was in knots.

"Honeybear, get up, nothing is wrong." Maureen looked a little suspicious of her answer. "It's just been a long day."

"You swear?" Maureen got up off her knees and sat on Joanne's desk.

Joanne pulled her chair in front of Maureen, grabbed her hands, and looked straight into her eyes, "Promise. Now what are you doing here?"

"Oh right." Maureen had almost completely forgotten about her encounter with Steve. "Well I was coming to say hi and on my way I ran into Steve, he was coming out of your office. We got in this little spat, he told me you were going to leave me because you could do so much better than me." Maureen couldn't even look at Joanne; she was kind of embarrassed that she would even consider this to be true.

"Maureen, look at me," Joanne gently placed her hand on Maureen's chin raising her head so that their eyes met. "I love you and I'm not leaving you, not now or ever. I'd never leave you for Steve," oops that last part kind of just slipped out.

"What?" Maureen pulled away from Joanne, that last comment confused and shocked her,_ why would she even say that, was she thinking about it?_

"Well see Steve was just in here before you came in and he told me he loved me and wanted us to start dating," Joanne was hesitant while saying this, her voice very quaint and quiet, she knew Maureen would flip out.

"I knew it!" Maureen jumped off the desk, she was pacing the floor now, arms flaring about, "I saw how he looked at you. I've seen…what a minute. He said he loved you? But you've only known each other for a couple of weeks. How could he love you already?"

"Well see Maureen, that's the thing." Maureen froze her heart was in her stomach. _No Steve couldn't have been right, Joanne said she wasn't leaving._

"Come over here and sit down baby," Joanne had gone over and sat down on a couch she had in her office, she was patting the empty spot beside her. Maureen just stood there, staring at her. "Baby please," Joanne pleaded. Maureen made her way over to the couch, forcing every step to happen. "Ok, Maureen listen and try not to go ballistic on me."

"Wait" Maureen interrupted, "I have to tell you something first. I love you; like I've never loved anyone or anything before, even myself. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you, get married, have children, the whole package. But if…" Maureen cleared her throat this part was not easy to say, "But if being with Steve makes you truly happy, then well…" she again hesitated, tears were now beginning to well up in her eyes, Joanne tried to speak but before she could get anything out Maureen's hand was covering her mouth, "then go ahead. I'm going to hate it and I probably won't make it easy for you, but go ahead."

Joanne was crying, "Maureen I can't believe you actually think I'd want to leave you for Steve. I'm not leaving you for anyone. And if I did try to leave, you better make it hard for me."

Maureen was now too crying. She pulled Joanne into a hug. And that's how they stayed for awhile, embraced into each other's arms, crying.

Maureen was finally the one to pull away, "But then what did you want to tell me?"

Joanne now became nervous herself_, how is she going to react to this news_. "Well Maureen I knew Steve before he got his job here?"

"Did you work with him at another firm?" _please say you worked with him at another firm._

"No. We actually went to high school together." She paused, "you see baby Steve was my high school boyfriend, we dated for about four years." Maureen quickly jumped up, but Joanne grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the couch, keeping a tight hold on her, so she just couldn't run away. "I broke it off when I started dating Kelly." Maureen shot her a look_; I don't want to have to hear about her too_.

"So why didn't you ever tell me about him before? I've always been open with you about my past relationships. Is it so much to ask of you to be open with me as well?" Maureen was getting heated; she jumped up too quickly this time, causing Joanne to loose her grip on her.

"Well, Steve wasn't just some boyfriend. He was…"

"No, I don't want to hear how great he was and how much you missed him and that shit. Not now, too late." Maureen fired back.

"I wasn't going to tell you about that stuff. I was going to just say that Steve was my first love and you don't like hearing about Kelly, who I'm not even sure I truly loved, so why would you want to hear about Steve?" Joanne was becoming very defensive by this point.

"A name would have been nice or to know you had a boyfriend at one point."

Joanne looked completely shocked, "You knew I dated a guy before."

"Just that you broke up with…" Maureen paused realizing she knew Joanne had a boyfriend at one point, "a name wouldn't have hurt."

"Oh geez Maureen."

"So were you guys pretty serious?"

"Yeah, we were pretty serious," Joanne was being completely blunt by now, not even once considering what she was saying so nonchalantly, "we had actually gotten engaged."

"What you never told me that!" Maureen was screaming by this point, pissed off that Joanne never told her, not even when Steve came back into her life.

Joanne was now too on her feet. "Baby that was a long time ago, what does that matter?"

"Are you serious? Of course it matters. It's bad enough you were engaged and you never told me, but then he comes back into your life, obviously wanting you back, and you still don't tell me." Maureen looked angry and hurt all at once.

"Maureen I was going to tell you." Joanne had walked over a once again grabbed hold of Maureen's hands. "Baby, I was going to tell you, I just needed to figure out…"

Maureen jerked away, interrupting Joanne before she could finish her sentence, "so you could figure out what Joanne, your feelings?" Joanne didn't respond, "oh my gosh, that's why isn't it? You still have feelings for him don't you?" Maureen was crying of frustration and pain now.

"Maureen, no listen to me. I'll admit yes when Steve first got this job and I saw him, the old feelings rushed back to me. But baby that's just it, they are old feelings." Joanne was trying her hardest to convince Maureen this was the truth, cause it was.

"Joanne you were really questioning your feelings for me, you know how bad that hurts to hear?" Joanne could tell how much pain Maureen was in right now.

"Baby, no I never. You know what I told him when he asked why I wouldn't give us a chance again; I told him because he wasn't you and…"

Again, Maureen quickly interrupted her, "wait, let me guess, your mom hired Steve, that bitch. I knew that bitch never liked me but to do this," Maureen had now passed frustration and was irate.

"Now wait a minute Maureen. I know that my mom doesn't like the fact of us being together, but I don't care, I still wouldn't be with you if I cared. But don't call her a bitch," she too was now becoming quite heated at the situation. Even though Joanne wasn't always fond of her mother, who did Maureen think she was calling her a bitch, plus this gave Joanne a reason to be pissed.

"Joanne if you want to break up, so you and Steve can pick up where you left off, fine by me." Maureen had decided to appear not really to care, because if not she was going to break down right there and she didn't want to, not now anyway.

"You don't mean that Maureen."

"Wonder if I do, so what?"

"I never said I wanted to break up. I was just telling you earlier that I didn't want to." Joanne was so frustrated at how difficult Maureen was being at this point.

"Well, maybe you need a break, cause I don't want your feelings for him or me to be confused."

"Holy shit Maureen, what the hell? Are you not listening to me? I don't love or even like Steve like that anymore, I love you."

"I don't know if I believe you Joanne."

The scene became frighteningly silent then. Joanne was standing, looking daggers into Maureen's eyes, from disgust at what she had just said.

"Well, if that's what you want to believe, then fuck off Maureen Johnson."

Maureen turned around, leaving the office. Joanne followed her to the door, making sure the door was slammed hard enough for everyone in the building to hear. Maureen turned to walk to the elevators; Joanne turned to walk back to her desk, but they both suddenly stopped, turned back to reach for the doorknob, wanting to apologize, but their egos and stubbornness wouldn't let them.

Maureen stormed down the hall, pissed off at Joanne, Steve, Joanne's mom, and herself. While she was waiting for the elevator, Steve walked up beside her; _oh Steve now is not a good time. _

"So she left you didn't she? I told you. She doesn't really love you," he was so smug in his comments. "Guess I'll just go pick up the pieces now. I'll make sure you're invited to the wedding."

The elevator door opened, but before getting on Maureen turned to Steve and hit me, laid him completely out, she had a damn good left hook. She felt a little better now.

**Ok, so yes they got in a big fight, I know a lot of you aren't liking that fact. But it just had to happen. I hope you liked it anyway. Thanks for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Kind of a shorter chapter. But thanks for the reviews, you guys really hate Steve huh? But I don't blame you, not the nicest of characters. This chapter is just kind of a filler; to set up the next couple of chapters. But hope you like it anyway.**

Maureen had walked back to the apartment. It was actually quite along walk and quite cold out but she didn't even seem to notice, she was so pissed off. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She knew she may have overreacted slightly at the situation, but she just couldn't help it. Steve had just said all that shit to her and then Joanne chooses to tell her about their past relationship and Steve's confessions then.

She walked in the apartment, still quite fired up. She walked into the kitchen, saw the vodka bottle, grabbed it, and headed towards the bedroom. However, when she walked by the phone, she saw they had some messages, _oh hell who could this be_.

_Maureen I'm not coming home till late. I'm going to stay here and get some work done and cool off._

Joanne's voice was definitely angry, yet she could tell she was trying to act calm; however she wasn't doing a very good job at it.

Hearing this message, just made Maureen upset all over again. She slung the vodka bottle against the wall, it shattered and glass flew everywhere. Maureen continued trashing the apartment; she was pissed and needed to release some anger. She turned over random furniture, yanked the phone and other electrical cords out of the wall and broke a couple of frames that held pictures of her and Joanne.

Maureen eventually broke down; she leaned up against the wall and just stood there looking at the mess she had made. Eventually she slid down the wall and just sat there. She began sobbing into her hands sitting in a silent, destroyed apartment alone.

* * *

(Joanne's POV) 

_Why did I tell her about Steve and me now? That wasn't the smartest thing you've ever done Joanne. And you just had to leave that message; you know it's going to upset her more. Who the hell cares though, I can't believe she was doubting me like that. I told her I wasn't leaving her and that I love her, but she had to throw a tantrum like a little child. Why do I even put up with it sometimes? I don't need all of that. Maybe we should just end it, if she can't even believe me when I tell her I love her, maybe it isn't much of a relationship anyway._

_Wait a minute Joanne what are you thinking? Could you really live without her?_

I picked up the pictures of the two of us I had sitting on my desk. We look so happy…and so in love. That's what I want; I want us back like that. I sat their at my desk, staring at our picture, sobbing.

* * *

(Eden's POV) 

The doctor had come in and told us that they were going to release Mark from the hospital. They were going to send him home with a prescription for some additional antibiotics and he had to go back for a follow-up in two weeks, but it looked like he was going to be just fine.

We finally got to go home, it seemed like forever from the moment we received the news till we actually signed the final papers so that he could leave. In all actuality I think it may be have ten minutes. As soon as we walked into the apartment, we began celebrating that Mark was going to be ok. After our own personal celebration, we decided to make phone calls letting everyone know the news. Plus, we thought they we could all go out to dinner tomorrow evening.

Mark had gone to sleep, so I decided to go ahead and call everyone to set up the plans.

* * *

"Hey Collins" 

"Eden, what's wrong?" Collins hadn't expected me to call I'm sure and I could tell that he was thinking the worse.

"Oh no Collins, everything is ok. They actually released Mark, he's sleeping now. But we thought we could all do dinner tomorrow evening, say 7 at the Life?"

"Oh that sounds great Eden. Well, sorry but I gotta run. Send Mark my love, bye." He hung up so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

* * *

"Hey, you've reached Maureen and Joanne. We are either not at home, too busy to get to the phone or just don't want to answer the phone. So leave us a message and if you're lucky we'll call you back." 

"Hey girls, tomorrow evening dinner at 7 at the Life, sound good? Mark's been released, thought we could celebrate. Joanne call me back."

* * *

"Speeeaaakkk.", of course Roger's answering machine, I don't think he ever answers. 

"Roger, Mark was released. We thought we could all meet for dinner tomorrow at 7 at the Life. But if you want come over and visit before, I'm sure Mark would love to see you, bye."

* * *

"Hello," Mimi sounded like she had been sleeping. 

"Hey Mimi, its Eden."

"Oh hi, what's going on, everything ok?"

"Oh yeah, Mark was actually released this evening."

"Are you serious," she sounded relieved, "hey Roger, Marks home," so that's where Roger is, I should have guessed. "Hey Roger wants to come over, you guys up for visitors?"

"Well Mark is sleeping, but come on over, I'm sure he'd appreciate the company."

"Ok, we'll be there soon. Oh hey actually I have to run to a few places, you want to go with me, we can let the boys visit."

Eden was a little hesitant leaving Mark, but she guessed Roger would be there so everything should be ok, "yeah sure just come over and we'll go."

"Ok see you in a bit."

Eden walked back into the bedroom, flipped on the light and jumped on the bed beside Mark. "Hey honey wake up, Roger and Mimi are on their way over."

**Yea I know, nothing too exciting. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter posted soon. I've been working on it for a little while now. It could easily be wrote really bad and come off cheezy or unrealistic I guess...I'm trying to avoid that of course. So hopefully I'll get it to where I like it soon enough so you guys can actually read it. Please R&R.**


	11. Chapter 11

**So I'm tired of just rereading this one and trying to get it _perfect..._don't really know if that is possible now, so I'm just going ahead and posting it. Some of you have expressed that you hate (or strongly dislike Steve) well I'm forewarning you, after this chapter you will hate him if you already don't...you're intrigued now aren't you? Hope you like it though.**

I sat in the hallway sobbing into my hands for about half an hour. _Why had I flipped out like that for? Joanne had told me she loved me and wasn't leaving me, but no I had to be dramatic. Why did I have to be like that for, at least towards Joanne?_

I looked up from my hands and realized how much frustration I had taken out on our apartment, which was going to piss Joanne off even more, _great._

Figured I should probably try to clean the mess up some. I tried to get up, but for some reason I couldn't. I was still mad, mainly at myself now, but still Joanne wasn't my favorite person. I wonder what Meems is doing; Joanne said she won't be home till late, I can't just sit here. I went to get the phone, when I realized that I first had to fix it before I could even use it.

"Hello"

"Hey Meems, it's Maureen," actually talking aloud had caused me to start crying once again.

"Maureen, what's wrong?"

"Oh, I just need to talk, you busy?"

"Well, actually I was on my way over to Mark and Eden's, he was released today and Roger wanted to go visit."

"Well, go ahead, I'll be ok," _damn it._

"No, no. Eden and I were going to go out anyway, you can come with us," for once I wasn't dreading having to spend time with Eden.

"Ok, well if you really don't mind. Just come over, I'll be ready."

"Of course it's ok. We will be over in about thirty minutes. You going to be ok?"

"Oh yeah, I'll see you soon," she couldn't get here soon enough.

I hung up the phone, looked around and figured I might as well clean up; it'll make the time go by faster. I'd hadn't but got the kitchen chairs sat back up when there was a pounding at the door.

Naturally, I walked over and opened the door. Seconds later I felt large hands pressed up against my chest and I was on my ass. I looked up to see Steve entering the apartment. He looked almost possessed; there was fire in his eyes. He slammed the door shut and locked it, gazing down at me on the floor, now trying to scramble away.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest; my body was trembling in fear. My stomach was in knots, I felt as though I could almost throw up. My palms had become so sweaty that they were sliding on the hardwood floors, making it more difficult to get away.

Steve slowly, yet demandingly walked towards me. He was now standing above me; I froze, bracing myself for what was to come.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my side and then another, he was repeatedly kicking me. I had tried to assume a fetal position, in hopes of protecting myself from some of the pain he was inflicting upon me, but it wasn't working.

The pain was overwhelming my body. I had never felt pain or fear like this ever before. Tears were pouring out of my eyes. Why was this happening? A million thoughts were rolling through my mind, mainly about the immense pain I was in right now and the possibilities of what he could do next to me. He was so much bigger than I was, I was almost afraid to fight back, possibly making it worse.

He reached down, grabbed my arm and forcibly jerked me to my feet. I was already so weak that I could barely stand steady on my own.

I soon felt something warm and wet flowing down my chin. I reached up and touched my face. When I pulled my hand away I saw my own blood smeared on my hand. I looked back at him just in time to see his fist yet again coming towards my face. He made contact with my nose this time. I saw my blood flying in the air as my body collapsed to the ground.

It almost didn't hurt now; my body was becoming numb from the repeated kicks and punches. I knew that I was screaming, but I couldn't hear myself screaming. My eyes were so swollen I could barely see out of them, everything had become blurry now.

I again found myself on my feet. However, this time he didn't punch me. Instead he threw my frail body into the glass end table. It shattered as I crashed into it. I was now lying in a pile of shattered glass, defeated; random cuts from my arms and face were now seeping blood out onto the floor and glass pieces.

I was sore, tired and ready to give up when I looked over beside me on the floor and saw the one reason why I couldn't give up just yet. There was a broken frame propped up by the leg of our love seat. It was a picture of Joanne and me. We were both smiling, looking into each other's eyes, our arms wrapped around one another. Mark had taken it one day in the park; we were so happy that day. My thoughts had gone from how much pain I was in and wondering when he would stop to thinking about how Joanne was going to deal with finding my dead body lying in our apartment.

Before I could reminisce about that day too much, I felt Steve's hands around my ankles, dragging me out of the glass pile. As he drug me to a more open area of the living room, I looked behind me to see a trail of my blood staining the carpet.

When he got me to the middle of our living room, he turned me so that I was lying on my back, looking up at this so called man. He then knelt down and straddled me. I felt so crushed and not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. My tears and blood were running freely. I was preparing myself for him to begin ripping my clothes off. I couldn't do anything though, I was defenseless. My body was so bruised, cut up, sore, and tired that I couldn't muster up an ounce of fight within me. I felt as though this was the end of my life, _JOANNE!_

However, he didn't even attempt to remove my clothes. He raised his arm back, I braced myself, his hand stung my cheek as it came flying across my face. He curled his fists up, ready to inflict yet more pain onto my already defeated body. But for some reason he stopped after only hitting me once or twice more. He rose to his feet and went to leave me lying on our floor. However, he felt it necessary to deliver one last blow to my ribs with his foot.

He then left. He had come in, beat the living shit out of me, and left without saying a single word to me.

_Joanne, where are you? Come home_. I knew she wouldn't be home anytime soon though. _I love you Joanne._

I blacked out then; I don't know how long I was laying there. The next thing I remember is hearing Mimi and Eden screaming.

**I told you, that you'd hate him didn't I? I warned you. Please don't hate me too bad though. To quote one of my reviewers, "I'm the writer and you are the reader...it is all part of a master plan." Please review this one. And keep reading, just keep in mind that Maureen is one of my favorite characters in Rent. **


	12. Chapter 12

**So this one is kind of a short one. I have a busy day, but I hoping maybe to get a chance to post the next chapter later tonight...we'll see though. Hope you enjoy. **

(Joanne's POV)

I was sitting at my desk, trying to finish up some work that had somehow piled up. However, I couldn't stop thinking of Maureen. I continually found myself staring at our picture on my desk. For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking I should go home and part of me wanted to, but the other part of me wanted to stay out as along as possible, just to annoy Maureen_. I'm getting nowhere here. I can't get Maureen out of my head; this is ridiculous Joanne go home_.

I cleaned up my desk a little bit, gathered my stuff and headed out the door. As I was locking up my office, I could hear the phone begin to ring on the other side of the door. Oh well. I didn't want to get caught up with some work now, they'll leave a message, I'll deal with it tomorrow. Plus, only person I really wanted to talk to right now was Maureen and if that was her, no big deal I was already on my way home and we could talk in person soon.

As I was walking to the subway I was continually replaying our fight in my head and figuring out how I was going to apologize and make it up to her.

"Well excuse you! Watch where you are going!" someone had just ran directly into me not even seeming to care. When I loved over to see who it was, I realized it was Steve and that his hands were covered in blood. I reached over to him to look at his hands but he jerked them away. "Steve, what's wrong? What's going on?" He just stood there; he had this blank look on his face. "Steve!" He just turned and continued running down the street without saying a word to me. _That was so weird_. I quickly brushed it off though, _oh well I have my own problems to deal with right now._

As I got closer to my apartment building I could see a man pacing out front of the steps and a woman sitting on them. As I got closer to them, they noticed me and both came frantically running towards me. As they got closer, I realized it was Roger and Eden.

"Guys, what are you doing here and outside for that matter?" I was so confused.

"Listen Joanne we…" Roger was out of breath, "we have to go to the hospital."

"What, why?" I had become very worried now. I looked over at Eden; she looked as though she had been crying.

"I'm sorry Joanne, but it's Maureen," Eden calmly told me, her arm around my shoulder.

"What?" I had become frantic now.

"Someone beat her up, they beat her up pretty bad Joanne," Roger had caught his breath now and was trying to remain calm as well.

Tears were now rolling down my face, "Why are we just standing here, let's go."

The three of us jumped in a cab and headed to the hospital. _Hold on baby I'm on my way!_

**Please review. I actually kind of get nervous to read your reviews (esp. after last chapter) but they've all be very nice thanks! **


	13. Chapter 13

**So yeah that last chapter was pretty short, sorry guys. I just needed to get Joanne to the hospital and this chapter has proven to be a pretty long one without all of that added too. But I'll try to keep in mind to keep them longer. I'm glad though that you guys are enjoying the story. Thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate them. Hope you enjoy this one!**

(Joanne's POV)

I was sitting in the back of the cab between Eden and Roger. The silence between us was deafening. Roger had his arm around me, rubbing my shoulder; Eden had a tight grasp on my hand. It was like they were thinking if they let go of me, I'd fall to pieces. Which honestly I might have and even though they weren't saying anything to me, they were giving me so much support in those moments.

They hadn't really told me anything, except for she was beat up. I didn't know anything and that scared me even more, I didn't know what to expect when I walked into her room. Guilt had now too taken over. _If I would just have went home when I usually do, I could have been there, maybe I could have done something. If only we hadn't got in that ridiculous fight. The last thing she heard me say to her was, "fuck off Maureen Johnson" Oh gosh, that can't be the last thing I tell her before she…no, I didn't know if she was really going to die, I didn't know._

"Joanne?" Roger was looking at me, his voice so soft and gentle. "We are here." I had gotten so lost in my thoughts; I hadn't even realized we were at the hospital.

Roger got out of the cab and reached his hand back in the cab to help me out. Eden was paying the cab driver and came over to help Roger walk me into the hospital. Without them both I doubt I could have gained enough courage then to walk into the hospital.

I was finding it hard to breathe while we walked through those doors. We walked over to the information desk and they told us that she was on the tenth floor. Something at that moment took over me and I raced to the stairwell. I didn't want to waste time waiting on the elevator. Roger and Eden took off chasing me up the stairs. Panic had taken over my body. I was taking two and three steps at a time; Roger and Eden were getting further and further behind. I burst threw the door that read "10th floor" my mind racing, not knowing what to do now. I noticed the nurse's station and rushed over to it, realizing I didn't know what room Maureen was in.

"What room is Maureen Johnson in?" I was so out of breath, I could hardly get the words out.

The lady behind the desk had a blank look on her face like I was speaking a foreign language to her. "Excuse me, ma'am. What can I help you with?"

"Maureen…Johnson…what…room?" I was gasping for air in between each word.

She then started punching some keys on her computer. "Yes now let's see here," could she take any longer. "She's in room 1032, down the hall on the left."

As I turned to run down the hall, I heard the stairwell door swing open and Roger and Eden walking onto the floor. I stood there and waited on them realizing I was going to probably need their support walking into that room.

"You ready?" Eden hugged me before we took off down the hall.

We stood outside the slightly closed door for a moment. I needed to compose myself. Maureen didn't need to see me like this; I needed to be strong for her. Roger finally pushed the door completely open; we didn't move an inch though. I could see her lying there in that bed, her body beaten. My body collapsed to the ground, Roger caught me in his arms before I hit the floor. I just buried my face into his chest, I was sobbing. I couldn't believe this was happening. His arms were wrapped tightly around me; he was gently rubbing my back trying to calm me down. This was a side of Roger that didn't show very often, but I was glad he decided to let it come out today.

"Joanne, whenever you're ready," he whispered to me.

I looked up at him, just shook my head. He helped me stand up, my body still shaking.

"She needs you; you're the one she wants here with her."

I looked into the room, realizing Mark, Collins, and Mimi starring at me. Eden was still by my side. Mark had got up and put a chair up by Maureen's head for me. Roger and Eden walked me into the room, both holding onto me tightly. I sat down in the chair, just starring at her beaten and bruised body, she was almost unrecognizable. Tears were again flowing down my face.

No one was saying a word. They just sat there and watched me, as if I'd fall apart if they spoke. However, I still didn't know anything and that was making it worse for me. I reached out and gently took Maureen's hand into mine; she was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her.

"So, what happened?" I think everyone was surprised I had even spoken because they all began glancing back and forth from one another as to figure out who was going to tell me.

Finally, Mimi walked over to me, knelt beside me, wrapping her arm around me. "Well honey," she paused, gathering strength to get the words out, "Eden and I went over to your apartment and we found her lying on the floor." Mimi looked at Roger in efforts to get permission to continue. "She was blacked out when we first got here, but she woke up once we started calling out her name and shaking her. And honey she's just sleeping right now; she's not in a coma."

I heard Eden speak up from behind me, "Joanne, she just kept asking for you. She said to make sure you know that she loves you."

I turned to Mimi, crying on her shoulder. I couldn't take this, why did this have to happen. She didn't deserve this; why would anyone want to do this to her.

"Don't cry," I heard a weak voice from the bed say.

I let out a sigh of relief and wiped the tears from my face as I turned back to the bed seeing Maureen awake. She was trying to smile, but I could see the pain, hurt, and fear still in her eyes.

"I love you," that's all I knew what to say. We just stayed there starring at each other.

Finally, Collins broke the silence, "hey well lets give them a minute guys. Let's go to the cafeteria, get a bite to eat."

They all got up and made their way over to Maureen. They each kissed her, told her they loved her and that they'd be back. They all left, Roger smiling at me as he slowly shut the door.

I turned back to Maureen, not knowing what to say. I just sat there and looked into her eyes. After a few minutes I think the silence was worrying her.

"Joanne, say something."

"Oh baby, I'm sorry. I should have been there. I should have just come home instead of being stubborn. I shouldn't have told you about Steve, I shouldn't have said all those things to you. I shouldn't have fought with you." It was like once I had started on this ramble, I couldn't quit.

"Joanne stop it!" she demanded. "This is not your fault, you hear me." She reached over and grabbed my hand. "I love you Joanne," she began crying now, which made me start crying again. I hated seeing her like this, in this much pain. What she must have went through; I hated to think about how scared she must have been. She then moved over in the bed, lifting up the blankets, "come here."

"Maureen, I can't. You don't need to be squashed in that bed. You need to lay there and rest. We got to get you better."

"I'd feel better if you'd come up here and just hold me," she was flashing me those puppy dog eyes and she sounded so cute, how could I say no to her.

I climbed up in the bed with her. I gently wrapped my arms around her; she laid her head on my chest. It felt so good, so right, to have her in my arms. Even though I had been sitting there looking at her, some sort of comfort came over me by just having her in my arms. I leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"What was that?" some laughter had entered back into her voice. "Everyone else at least kissed my cheek or forehead and my girlfriend kisses the top of my head," she had looked up at me smiling.

I gently leaned over and kissed her on the lips. I made sure to be as gentle as possible, seeing how badly her face was bruised and busted up.

"Thank you," she sweetly told me as she laid her head back on my chest.

I began running my hand threw her massive curls. I was so thankful she was alive. I couldn't imagine my life without her in it. I loved her so much and didn't ever want to let her go ever again.

"Hey Pookie," she started; I could hear the sadness in her voice, "Pookie you know the one thing that I kept thinking about while it was happening; the one reason I was trying to survive? It was you. I love you so much Joanne. I don't ever want to loose you. I love you," she said all of this without even looking at me. She reached over and latched her fingers in between mine. We were both again crying.

"Baby I love you too."

We just laid there, holding each other. There was so much more I wanted to know about what happened and mainly who it was, but now wasn't the time. I just wanted to be in the moment; her in my arms. She was alive and she loved me and that's all that mattered to me right then.

* * *

"Hey kids wake up," we were startled awake by Mark's voice. We were still in the bed together, still holding onto one another.

"What time is it?" I was rubbing my eyes trying to wake myself up.

"It's 8:30."

"8:30?" I looked out the window, it was light outside, we had slept all night like that.

Mark kind of laughed realizing that we were both just then realizing we had slept all night. "Yeah, we all came back last night and saw the two of you sleeping we didn't want to disturb you, you guys just looked too damn cute," he got a little smirk on his face.

"Has the doctor been in?" I could tell by her voice she was nervous and worried. I started rubbing her back in an attempt to make her feel safer being in my arms.

"We don't know, Eden is out at the nurse's station trying to find something out."

Just then Eden walked in the room, a smile on her face. Usually that would mean good news, but I was so worried that I wasn't jumping to any conclusions.

"So what did you find out?" I quickly asked her. I was eager to find out something about how Maureen was going to be, seeing how last night I never really found out anything about what was going on with her.

"Well," she sat down at the end of the bed, "the doctor will be in here in about fifteen minutes. He has already checked out all your test results from yesterday," her smile somehow got bigger at this point, "but as long as you seem ok when he comes in, he's going to release you."

Maureen and I just looked at each other; our smiles as big as Eden's now. She reached up to me and kissed me, I couldn't have been happier.

"So, all the tests were ok?" Maureen still had a slight hint of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, that's what they told me. No internal bleeding or swelling, no apparent organ damage. You do have three broken ribs though, but that doesn't mean you have to stay here."

Maureen gave her this _no shit I have broken ribs look_. "Thanks Eden. I really appreciate everything," I couldn't believe what Maureen was saying to Eden. She seemed very genuine and sincere in her comments; I'd never heard Maureen take that tone with Eden before.

"You don't have to thank me Maureen."

The doctor then walked in; I quickly jumped out of the bed so he could assess her. He was rather quiet during his assessment. Eden was standing beside me, her arm around me. Maureen looked nervous and scared lying there, probably since he wasn't speaking. Finally, after he was done he took out some papers and started scribbling something down. We all just looked at each other, confused, wondering what was going on.

"Well," his voice was very deep and stern, "Maureen I'm going to go ahead and release you." I was so relived when I heard this news. He continued rambling on some restrictions and instructions. When he said, "no extrenuous activity," we just looked at each other, disappointed, I'm sure that won't last too long though. Maureen then signed some papers, got dressed and we left.

Mark and Eden had to get to work, so they headed on their way, telling us they'd call us later. Maureen and I headed back to the apartment. As we were walking up the stairs, Maureen's body began to shake, her grasp on my hand tightened. I put my arm around her waist pulling her a little closer to me. I knew this wasn't going to be easy for her, but Maureen was a fighter and I was going to be there every step of the way supporting her in every way I could.

Earlier, Mark had pulled me aside and told me that they all had went over to the apartment and cleaned it up for us. They didn't figure I was going to leave Maureen's side at the hospital and that she didn't need to be returning to that apartment with it being trashed like it had been. I'm glad we had such great friends.

We had finally made it to our apartment. She just stopped and starred at the door. Her body was shaking so bad that I thought that I was going to have to carry her into the apartment. She then turned and just looked at me; I could see all the pain and fear that had returned in her eyes.

"Whenever you want to go in Maureen, we'll go in. We can sit out in the hallway all day if you want to," and I would have sat there all day if she wanted to.

She just smiled at me, "ok Pookie let's go home."

We walked in and she began crying. I took her in my arms and walked her over to the couch. We sat down on the couch; I just held her and let her cry. Even though she was crying and in so much pain right now; I knew we were going to be ok.

"I love you Maureen."

**So what did you think? Please review. I haven't even got the next chapter started, so hopefully I can get that wrote maybe tonight beforeI go to sleep...we'll see. I'll get one up and posted as soon as I can though, promise. Thanks again for the reviews and don't forget to review this one!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Alright, next chapter. I didn't get much sleep last night so that I could get this one wrote and posted today...you guys better appreciate me, lol :) But I do hope you like this, another long chapter, yay. Enjoy!**

(Joanne's POV)

Maureen lay in my arms just crying. I knew it couldn't be easy for her to be back in that apartment. I kept thanking Mark and everyone for coming and cleaning that place up before I bought her home. Actually though, if they hadn't I probably wouldn't have even brought her back there just yet. I just sat there with her, trying to be as supportive as possible, allowing her to share all of her fears and pain with me. I knew she needed me and I was going to be there for her as long as she needed me to be; I was always going to be there for her.

"Hey baby, how about we go back to our bed," I softly whispered to her, wiping some tears from her cheeks.

She sniffled a little bit, "ok". She gazed up at me, "Joanne, I'm going to be ok, right?" She looked so lost and vulnerable. To see this woman who was typically so strong and vibrant to be hurting so bad, it just tore me up inside.

I leaned over and kissed her forehead, "if I have anything to say about it yes. We are going to make it through this Maureen, together. I'm here for you."

She smiled at me and stood up off the couch. She reached down her hand to me, lifting me up. She quickly had my body close up against hers. "Thank you Pookie." She kissed me, it felt so perfect. "I love you, how'd I get so lucky," she let out a little giggle with that last statement.

"Hey," I pulled slightly away from her, grinning, "watch it".

She started laughing; it was so nice to hear her laugh. She then grabbed my hand and began leading me down the hallway. I got up close behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, resting my head on her shoulder. I was kissing her neck causing a big smile to come over her face. When we got into our bedroom, Maureen attempted to progress our evening activity along.

After giving into her efforts for awhile, I finally had to unfortunately stop. "Maureen come on, stop it," I was pushing her roaming hands off of me. She got this cute little disappointed look on her face and started pouting; she was so cute when she pouted. I somehow just ignored it and walked over to the dresser to pull out some pajamas, "you know what the doctor said."

"Oh come on, since when we do we care," she had walked over to me running her hands up my back. "Pookie, please," she now started kissing the back of my neck; I turned around to face her.

"Baby, I would love more than anything to take you to bed, but we can't." She looked slightly disappointed, but she knew I was right.

"I know Joanne, I know," she hated the fact that some doctor had control over what she did in her own bedroom with her own girlfriend. I hated it too, but I knew that she didn't need to be participating in that type of activity, well at least not tonight…tomorrow was a different story.

I walked over to the mirror we had in the bedroom, brushing my hair out before going to bed. I happened to glance at Maureen's reflection in the mirror, she was still pouting on the other side of the room. She finally grabbed her clothes to change, her back towards me and I knew she didn't notice me watching, so I just stood there and watched her. I loved those moments that I could steal watching her, when she didn't notice it. When she took off her shirt though, I saw something that for some reason I had not thought about then. Her entire body was covered in bruises; in that moment all the hurt I had felt from not being able to stop this from happening rushed back to me. This was the first time I was seeing her bruised body; I hadn't seen her body at the hospital, when she changed she went into the bathroom, said she could do it by herself; I hadn't pushed the issue of helping her then. I gasped and dropped the brush, causing a loud crash as it hit the dresser. Maureen jumped and quickly went to put her shirt back on realizing that I had seen her changing.

I walked over to her and grabbed the shirt before she could put it back on. I just stood there and looked at her body. My eyes started to well up with tears. I reached out to her and gently touched one of the bruises on her shoulder. Her body started to quiver. She reached up and placed her hand on top of my mine. I looked up into her eyes, she almost seemed ashamed. I moved closer to her and bent over a kissed one of her bruises. I kissed a few more bruises, before she finally spoke.

"I love you so much, do you know that?" she had started crying half way through this statement.

"I know. I love you too." I took her hand and led her over to the bed and sat her down beside me. "Maureen, it's going to be ok, we are going to be ok."

"As long as I have you, I'll be ok," I saw a little smile come over her face. "So you like in the mood now?" she started running her hand up my thigh. She leaned towards me and started kissing me.

I pulled away though, as much as I hated it, I did. "Baby, let's just get some sleep ok."

"It was worth a shot," she flashed me a little smirk and got off the bed.

We each started finishing getting ready for bed; exchanging small kisses or slaps on the ass as we'd pass each other. I had gotten in bed first, laying there watching this beautiful woman prance around the apartment, getting ready to get into my bed. I just laid there and smiled while I was watching her; she'd catch me watching and just smile back and go along with whatever she was doing before she caught me. She was being so brave about all of this happening; I admired her so much. She eventually climbed in bed. She was quickly sharing my side of the bed with me. She intertwined her leg in between mine and laid her head on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her, lightly rubbing my hand over her body.

"Goodnight Pookie, I love you."

"I love you too, goodnight."

It wasn't too much longer till we were both asleep.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

I woke up the next morning, stretching my body figuring I'd soon hit some part of Joanne's body, but I never did. _Surely, she wouldn't have gone into work today; she wouldn't have left me alone today_. I opened my eyes and looked around; there was no trace of Joanne. I couldn't even hear any noise in the apartment. As I was getting ready to jump out of the bed and go look for her I noticed a note lying on Joanne's pillow.

_Good morning baby. No I didn't go to work, I'm here. Whenever you get up and feel like it come out here. I love you Maureen._

_Love Joanne._

I was quickly on my feet heading down the hall. I noticed Joanne sitting at the kitchen table, her back towards me. I just stood there for awhile, starring at her. She was just sitting there, her arms folded on the table; I could tell deep in thought. She was still wearing her sweatpants and the Sex Pistols t-shirt I had bought her; I don't know if she could have been more beautiful in that moment. I eventually walked up behind her, wrapping my arms around her chest. Apparently, I startled her cause she nearly jumped out of her chair.

"You know last night I fell asleep in the arms of this really hot woman and when I woke up she was gone. Can you believe that she'd let me wake up in the bed alone," I reached other and started nibbling on her ear. She started giggling, she always giggled when I did that.

"Well good morning to you too," she turned her head so that our lips were now connected into a long passionate kiss. She had pulled me down onto her lap, our lips never loosing connection from one another's. "Hey I cooked you breakfast," she finally told me when she pulled away. I turned to look at the kitchen table to see a plate of pop tarts sitting there; it made me laugh. She reached over and pulled the plate closer to us. She started breaking pieces off and feeding them to me. Who knew that being fed pop tarts was such a turn on.

"So, what do you want to do now? Anything you want to do today we'll do," _oh the possibilities she was leaving me here._ My mind began racing with ideas; mainly ideas that had us alone together in the apartment, undressed of course.

"Well you know," I was being very flirty by now, "actually I just want to spend the day with you, preferably here in the apartment alone."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea to me, but we can't."

"What!" I was slightly perturbed, she said anything.

"It's just that Mimi called earlier and they all want us to go out to dinner tonight at the Life and then over to Mark and Eden's; they want to spend some time with you."

"But I want to spend time alone with you," I was pouting now.

"Well we have all day and then later tonight." Then this huge smile came over her face, "and actually I called the office before you woke up and took the next three days off."

"What are you serious?" I was so excited. I wrapped my arms around her. She was going to be all mine for the next four days, oh the possibilities. "Thank you Pookie. This is so great. But are you sure you can afford that kind of time off?" Joanne had always been so involved and dedicated to her work and now she was taking four days off of work just so she could be with me, _damn I love this woman._

"Don't worry about it," she reached up pushing some hair out of my face and lightly kissing my lips. "But baby can we talk a little before this big four day party of ours starts?"

"Of course," her face looked so serious.

She took a deep breath, "who did this?"

I jumped off of her lap and headed into the living room; of course she was right on my heels. It's not that I didn't want to tell her or talk to her about it, but I was just nervous to. Talking about it meant I had to relive it; I wasn't completely ready for that yet. I knew though that Joanne would be there supporting me and helping me get through it, I wasn't worried about that. Some part of me felt as though when she heard it was Steve that she'd completely blame herself and I didn't want her blaming herself for this; it wasn't her fault.

"Baby," she grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face her. She looked so concerned, "talk to me".

I grabbed her hand and sat down with her on the couch. "Ok listen," I took a deep breath, "I want to talk to you about this, I do, but it's just hard."

"I can imagine, but I'm here for you. I want you to tell me; I want to help you. But baby I can't help you until you let me in on what happened. Please baby let me help you."

"It was Steve," I just kind of blurted it out. Figured I do it like a band-aid, quick.

"What?" she was furious. She was quickly on her feet pacing the floor. She was mumbling something, her arms flaring through the air. I let her go on like that for a little while, hoping it would help calm her down some. I eventually walked up to her, grabbed her arms, restricting them from flaring about. She was still firing off at the mouth. I just pulled her into a kiss; I knew that would shut her up.

"We have to call someone. I'm going to kill him," she was nearly screaming as she headed for the front door. I could tell she was pissed; but I couldn't really blame her because I would have been too. And part of me wanted to let her go after him, but I knew that wouldn't be the best of situations.

"Wait Joanne, I don't want to," she froze in her footsteps. She turned around to face me and flashed me this _what in the hell_ look. "Well, I want to, just not today. I don't want to ruin our day. Don't let him ruin this, he's already ruined enough. Please." I was begging her, I was about to get on my knees if it came to that.

She slowly walked back over to me, "really, you don't want to?" she almost looked pissed, yet understanding.

"Really, well not today anyway; tomorrow first thing."

"You promise?"

"I promise," and I really wanted to, Steve would pay, but I wanted today to be about Joanne and me. I could tell she didn't agree with my decision, but she'd go along with it. She was having a hard time processing all of this, I could tell.

"How about we watch a movie?" I was attempting to get her mind off of this topic. I figured she wasn't in the mood for some sexual fun, plus she'd see all the bruises again that way and that wouldn't help either.

She agreed to a movie and went to grab a blanket out of the closet. I went over and stuck in a movie and sat on the couch waiting on her. When she returned to the living room we snuggled up on the couch together and covered up. It was weird to me sometimes at just how well our bodies fit together.

We laid there watching the movie sometimes; making out during other parts. During one of our make out periods, of course the phone rings. I reluctantly got up and went over to answer it.

"Hello"

"Hey Maureen, what's going on? How are you feeling?"

_I was doing really well right before you called,_ "oh I'm doing ok, what's up Meems?"

"Well I was just checking that you and Joanne are still meeting us for dinner and then going to Mark and Eden's?"

"Yeah, we'll be there," I mean seriously this was why she felt it necessary to call and interrupt us. I looked over at Joanne who was laughing at me. I could tell she realized how pissed I was that someone had called.

"Ok, I'll see you soon, bye."

"Bye Meems." I hung up the phone and was quickly back on the couch, picking up where I had left off.

As we were lying there Joanne all of sudden got up off the couch for no apparent reason. She didn't say anything to me, she just got up.

"Where do you think you're going?" I was confused, yet upset that she was leaving me there on the couch to snuggle by myself.

"If we are going to make it to the Life on time, I need to get a shower," then she just took off down the hall.

"Well, let's go take a shower," I was quickly on my feet chasing her down the hallway.

An hour later we immerged from the bathroom, rather satisfied I might add. We got ready to go to the Life; every once in a while sneaking in a little playtime here and there. After every time Joanne would kiss me, I would become a little more upset, that we were going to the Life with everyone tonight. I really wanted to just be with her, but I guess it'll be good to see everyone else and to get out of this apartment for a little while.

As we were walking out of the apartment I asked Joanne not to mention to anyone that it was Steve that had beat me up. She was actually very understanding why I didn't want everyone knowing, just not yet. I kissed her and we headed to the Life.

Tonight was about Joanne, me, and our friends. Tomorrow we'd deal with Steve; I hope he dies.

**Please review this one, I know you will though, thanks for all the reviews I really do appreciate all of them. Ok so now you guys are pretty much going to decide where I go from here. I could either write a chapter about them at the Life with everyone and end my fic OR I do have another idea in my head to cause a little more drama and I could write that, which will probably give you another oh I'd say approx. five more chapters. So what do you want, let me know! The sooner you let me know, the sooner the next chapter will be up obviously. Thanks for reading.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys, thanks everyone for your reviews from last chapter. And it looks like I will be adding some more drama to this story, I'm kinda glad you guys wanted it that way. This chapter is the longest chapter I think I have in this story. POVs change a few times throughout this story, so make sure to take notice. **

(Maureen's POV)

Joanne and I walked out of the apartment to go meet everyone for dinner. For some reason Joanne kept insisting that we leave early, I really wasn't sure why though and she wouldn't tell me either. We weren't even walking in the direction of the Life, she had something up her sleeve, and I wish I knew what. After we had been walking about five blocks in silence I finally spoke up.

"Hey Pookie, where are you taking me?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," she knew I hated being out of the know, she always said stuff like that when she wanted to torcher me. "And who said I was taking you anywhere?" I could tell she was attempting to be all cute and flirty; and even though she always looked sexy and cute when she acted like that, I wasn't in the mood to play games right now.

I pulled my hand away from hers, "then what are we doing walking in the wrong direction. The Life is the other way." I was getting slightly irritated that she wouldn't even give me a hint. I turned around and headed back in the other direction. She just stood there, didn't try to stop me at all. After I had been walking about a block without her chasing me down, I stopped and turned around to see why she wasn't chasing after me. But little did I know she was chasing me down, because when I stopped and turned around she ran right into me.

"About time," I was pouting. "What took so long? You going somewhere that you really don't want to take me anyway, so it doesn't matter if I'm with you or not." I wasn't mad by any means, I was just pouting because she wouldn't tell me where we were going.

"Quit pouting and come on," she grabbed my hand and drug me back in the other direction. "Just trust me ok." She squeezed my hand and leaned her head over so that I would have to look her straight in the eyes. I got this grin on my face, I was trying not to give in, but I couldn't help from smiling at her. She laughed when she saw that I was grinning, she wrapped her arm around my waist, kissed me on the cheek and we continued on our way…somewhere.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

Finally, we made it to Central Park. This was my surprise, a trip to Central Park, woo-hoo. We walked into the park and sat down at a bench. It was a nice fall day out and the park was packed with people. There were kids on rollerblades skating through cones they had sat up, challenging each other to see who could do it the fastest. There were random artist sitting around trying to earn a buck or two. Some of them were painting or drawing, others were playing random instruments, and yet others were dancing. Of course, the always famous New York City vendors were out, Joanne had gone over to get us a couple of drinks while I sat there and watched all this life happening around me. Joanne quickly returned and sat down beside me. She draped her arm around me and I laid my head on her shoulder. I had even managed to drap my leg over her's. Occasionally, I'd sneak in a peck on her cheek or neck. She'd just look down at me and smirk. She usually didn't like a lot of PDA, but I don't think she cared today.

I looked up at one point and saw this old couple sitting together on another bench. He was whispering to her and she was smiling and laughing at his comments. Their old wrinkled hands were latched together; you couldn't tell whose hand was whose. They were absolutely adorable. I lifted up my head and gazed into Joanne's eyes, "I want to be like that, with you." She looked over to the old couple realizing what I was talking about. "I want to be that old and still that much in love with you." This was one of the most honest comments I had ever made in my life.

As she turned back to face me, I could see this hug smile that had come across her face. "Maureen I think that may be the sweetest thing you've ever said," pure bliss was shining from her eyes. She leaned over to me and embraced me into a passionate kiss. "And I want us to be like that too."

Apparently some little tourist kid, he had an I heart NY shirt on; no one who actually lives in New York wears those, saw us kissing. I guess this wasn't something he was use to seeing because he just pointed at us and shouted, "eww mommy those two girls were kissing. That's disgusting. Mommy are they going to hell?" The mother was quickly running over to grab her son away from the lesbians; he got in a few last comments though. "Mommy look at her face, what is wrong with her? Why does that other girl want to kiss her for?" His mother was quickly dragging him away from us, attempting to shut him up.

I just put my head down and stared at the ground; I couldn't even look at Joanne. The comments he made about us being together didn't really bother me. I'm not embarrassed that I have a girlfriend; Joanne treats me better than any guy I've ever dated, but still just to hear that little kid say that, it just got to me I guess. But what really got to me was what he had said about my face. I was having such a wonderful time with Joanne that I had completely forgotten about my encounter with Steve…_maybe that's what Joanne was going for_…then this little kid brought all that reality back to me. However, no one else around us seemed to even notice though, except for the obvious tourists.

I could see Joanne looking at me; I could tell she was worried about me. She was rubbing my back; her touch was always so gentle and loving. "Maureen, come here," Joanne had stood up and was reaching her hand out to me.

"What?" I sounded like a poor, defenseless child.

"Just come here," her tone was so soft.

I got up and she led me closer to two guys who were playing a guitar and a saxophone. When we got closer she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, "dance with me," it was so sweet. I draped my arms around her neck, she seemed pleased that I had actually obliged to her request. The men started playing "Forever in Love". Joanne began to softly sing the lyrics to me, _And I know, There is nothing that I would not do for you, Forever be true, And I know, Although times can be hard, We will see it through, I'm forever in love with you, _I felt a tear flow down my cheek, it was beautiful. I laid my head down on Joanne's shoulder as she continued to sing; I closed my eyes; I wanted to remember this moment forever.

After the song was over, I lifted my head up to see Joanne smiling. I could see traces of where tears had fallen down her face. She let go of me, but not before kissing me again. She then turned and thanked the men and threw some money into the open guitar case.

"Well if we are going to the Life we better go," she seemed a little disappointed that our Central Park outing had to end; I was too. I know it wasn't a lot, we just sat in the park and danced; but it was actually very nice, I would almost dare to say romantic. Plus, we were together and that counted for a lot.

She grabbed my hand and we started to head to the subway station to go to meet everyone. On the way out of the park we walked by that child again. I was just going to ignore him; however Joanne had other plans. Right after we passed him I felt Joanne slap my ass and leave her hand there.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

We were the last ones to arrive at the Life. Everyone was already seated waiting on us. As we walked in everyone was instantly on their feet racing towards us. Of course everyone was heading straight for Maureen, well everyone except for one person.

Roger had come right up to me and hugged me. "How are you doing?" he seemed to genuinely care. It was nice too. Roger and I had never really been close ourselves; we typically just hung out when Mimi and Maureen were there. But something about this whole incident how brought us closer somehow.

"I'm doing ok," I glanced over to Maureen who was currently being engulfed in Collins' arms. "I'm worried about her Roger," I hadn't taken my eyes off of her. "She's crying one minute and then acts like everything is ok the next."

"She'll be ok Joanne. As long as she has you and your love, she'll be ok." I quickly looked back at Roger with this puzzled look on my face, since when did Roger Davis become a hopeless romantic. And even though this wasn't typical of Roger's attitude, I kind of liked it.

"Thanks." We wrapped our arms around one another and he led me to the table.

We all sat down at the table, all eight of us. Mark took the seat by the wall; he said he got better camera angles that way. Of course Eden took the seat beside him. I had pulled up a seat beside Eden. Later whenever everyone else was drunk, Eden and I would be the most sober, so we tended to always sit beside each other. Maureen was quickly on my other side, her hand already rubbing the inside of my thigh. I think it was her way of reminding me that she was there and maybe a little bit of a reminder of what she wanted to do when we got home. Roger and Mimi had made their way down to the other end of the table to sit across from Mark and Eden. Collins had taken the seat across from Maureen. Then that left the seat across from me and in between Mimi and Collins empty. It was reserved for our eighth member. That was Angel's seat. Ever since Angel had died, we always left an empty seat for her. It was our own personal way of remembering her.

Random conversations had begun between various people. I was just sitting back watching all of them go on. Mainly though I was watching Maureen. She actually seemed to be enjoying herself. She was smiling and laughing; being her old self, I loved seeing her like that, but part of me knew it was just an act. She noticed me watching her once and she leaned over and lightly kissed me, "I love you," she whispered in my ear. She was again quickly back deep into her conversation with Collins.

One of the pitchers of beer was empty, so I volunteered to go up to the bar to refill it. As I was waiting at the bar Eden showed up, she had come up for a refill of soda.

"So how is everything Joanne?" I could see the sincerity in her eyes. Since Eden was one of the ones that found Maureen, I felt like I could open up to her more about the whole situation. Plus, Eden and I had actually gotten close since she and Mark started dating. Eden was just one of those people you, well I, felt comfortable opening up to.

"I think she'll be ok, I really do. I mean in time," I was trying to convince Eden and myself that this was the truth.

"Joanne, I don't want to push but," she paused, took a deep breath, "did Maureen tell you who did this?"

"Why!" I blurted it out very quickly, maybe making it obvious that I knew something I didn't want her to know. "Why do you ask?" I tried to appear calmer when I asked her this time.

"Well, it's just that she told us she didn't know who it was," Eden glanced back over to our table of friends. I could tell a million thoughts were running through her head. She looked back at me with this seriousness about her, "Joanne I think it's someone she knows." I could tell how worried Eden was about Maureen, which kind of seemed odd to me, seeing how the two of them never really got along.

As I got ready to confide in Eden, I happened to glance out the window onto the New York streets. That's when I saw him; Steve was walking by the Life. He had stopped right outside of the restaurant; I was just glaring at him.

Apparently, Eden noticed, "Who's that Joanne?" I turned to see that she too was looking at Steve. She reached over and touched my shoulder, "Joanne, everything ok?"

"Umm, yeah. Hey, Eden would you take the beer back to the table for me? Tell Maureen I went to the bathroom if she asks. Thanks." I took off past a very confused looking Eden to head after Steve.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

Eden had come back to the table, beer in hand, but no Joanne in sight. I started looking around the Life, I couldn't see Joanne anywhere. "Hey Eden, where's Joanne?" I was actually a little concerned. Ever since this happened, Joanne had seemed to continually let me know where she was and kept a tight watch on where I was. However, though we were typically together.

"Oh yeah, she went to the bathroom," her eyes didn't even meet mine when she spoke. She then was quickly offering to pour everyone's beer, making sure not to look up at me. I could tell something was going on; Eden has never been a good liar.

Ok, so don't panic Maureen, maybe she really did go to the bathroom. The last time though she went to the bathroom when we were all together, she had run into Steve in the hallway. My eyes were then quickly scanning to see if Steve was in there.

It had been a few minutes now and still Joanne didn't return. I was becoming frantic by then. _Where did she go?_ Collins was trying to talk to me, trying to keep my mind off of worrying, but I wasn't listening to much he was saying. I was getting too worried about Joanne. "Collins," I interrupted him mid-sentence, "I'm going to go to the bathroom ok."

"Well hey Maureen, how about you just wait here. I'm sure Joanne is fine Maureen; she'll be back any minute. You know how women are in the bathroom." He did have a good point and if Joanne knew how bad I was freaking out just because she had went to the bathroom without me, she'd worry. I was just going to sit here and wait on her; show her I was handling it ok, her not being around me for the first time since Steve, well you know.

* * *

(Eden's POV)

"Hey Mark," I pulled the camera down away from his face, "turn that off for a minute, would you?"

"Of course," he quickly had it turned off and was facing me. "What's wrong Eden?" he seemed slightly confused.

"Well, is everything ok with Maureen and Joanne? I mean besides this whole…incident of Maureen's?" I was getting worried that Joanne had went chasing after some guy and told me to tell Maureen she went to the bathroom. And now with Maureen obviously freaking out, I was worried something was really wrong.

He looked completely puzzled by my question, "Well I guess their fine, why?"

"Well," I was slightly hesitant to tell him, I didn't want to start any drama for Joanne and Maureen. That was the last thing they needed right now, but I worried something was really wrong. "When I was up at the bar talking to Joanne, she noticed some guy walking by and ran out of here."

Apparently Mimi had been listening to our conversation because she was quickly adding to it. "Umm, hey Eden just curious, but what did he look like?"

"I really didn't get a good look at him. He was a tall, black guy, that's all I could really tell."

A look of panic came over Mimi's face, like she had just figured something out that worried her, "that's Steve."

Roger too was now in our conversation, "who's Steve?"

Mimi was now trying to be as quiet as possible so that Maureen could not hear us. "Remember Joanne and Maureen getting into that fight at the hospital when Mark was in there?"

I just rolled my eyes, "yes".

"Well it was over Steve."

"So what are you suggesting Meems?" Mark was now intrigued.

Mimi just gave him this look. Apparently he knew what she was thinking. "You can't seriously think that Joanne would cheat on Maureen with him?"

"Honestly, no. But crazier things have happened."

"But even if she was Meems, Joanne wouldn't leave Maureen tonight," Roger quickly added.

"Guys, I don't know if this guy really was Steve, but Joanne didn't seem to have any love for this guy." I couldn't believe Joanne would cheat on Maureen anyway. For some reason, unbeknownst to me Joanne was completely in love with Maureen.

Roger looked down the table starring at Maureen, who was still freaking out about Joanne's absence; poor Collins was running out of things to say to her to try and keep her calm.

Roger turned back to us, this scared look on his face. "Guys," he paused, "you don't think Steve could have been the one that beat up Maureen do you?"

"That would explain why Joanne would run out of here after him," Mark added. This new scenario had made some logical sense, unlike the first one.

"But Maureen told us she didn't know who it was?" Mimi had a point, she did tell us that, but maybe she was just scared; she very easily could have been lying to us.

I then remembered how Joanne reacted when I questioned her about it earlier. I was quickly telling them that, "I asked Joanne earlier who did it. She became very uneasy. You don't think they actually know and just don't want to tell us." Everyone started glancing around at one another, fear and suspicion in each of our eyes.

"We just can't sit here," Roger stated in protective mode. "If it was him, what is going to stop him from beating up Joanne?" We all knew he was right, but we all knew we couldn't mention any of this to Maureen.

"Hey Roger, come on we'll go look for her. We'll tell Maureen we have to run back to your place real quick and that we'll be right back." That was a pretty good cover up, Maureen should buy that; I don't really think though she'll care that Roger and Mark are leaving.

So Roger and Mark got up, went over to tell Maureen their story and left. Now it was just Mimi, Collins, and me to deal with a frantic Maureen; this should be fun.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

I rushed out of the restaurant, hoping that Maureen wouldn't see me and chase after me. That's the last thing that needed to happen; Maureen come face to face with Steve. Once I got outside I saw Steve walking into a small park across the street. Typically, my better judgment would have told me not to follow some guy, especially some guy who had just beat the living shit out of my girlfriend, into a park, but this was a smaller, well lit park; typically a safe park in New York standards. So I raced across the street to track him down.

As I made it into the park I saw him. I walked up behind him and shoved him in the back; he stumbled forward slightly. "You bastard!" I just screamed it at him. "How the hell!" Tears were now flowing from my eyes. He paused for a second, not turning around just yet to face me. I shoved him again, this time though he didn't budge.

He finally turned around to face me. "Look Joanne, it's not like that."

"It's not like what Steve," I was so angry, "you beat her up Steve. You put her in the hospital." He just stood there looking at me; a blank stare plastered on his face. "What type of man are you to do that to woman, huh?" I was still screaming, tears still pouring out my eyes, my body had begun trembling now.

"Joanne, look she deserved it…"

I cut him off right there, "she deserved it? Are you fucking kidding me?" I went straight at him this time, shoving him with every ounce of fight I could muster up. He nearly fell onto the ground, but caught himself on a bench. "How did she deserve it Steve? Just because I wasn't going to leave her for you. Get it through your head I love her, not you." He was just standing there, it was like none of this was even bothering him whatsoever. So I just continued on my rant, "and plus do you really think I'd leave her for you now after you pulled that stunt; not the smartest move Steve." I couldn't contain it any longer, I just punched him square in the jaw. I was trying not to hit him, because here I was bitching at him for doing that to Maureen; but I really didn't care now that I was face to face with him. If I would have had a gun or knife he probably would have been dead.

"Just stop it Joanne," he was rubbing his jaw where I had just hit him. I hope it hurt. He went to walk away but I grabbed his arm. He froze and slowly turned back to me.

"I just want you to know Steve, that if you ever come near her again I'll kill you." I had become calm and stern in that moment. I wanted him to know that I was serious about it; I didn't want him to think that I was just ranting and raving; that I would kill him if he ever went near Maureen again. "I'm serious Steve, leave her alone."

I let go of him and turned back around to go back to the Life; I'd wasted enough time on him already.

**So there it was, what did you think? Please review. I hope to have the next chapter up soon, but I'm moving to NYC in a few weeks (sn: if anyone knows someone who needs a roommate i need one) so things are kind of getting a little hectic around here. Oh and just to cover the fact, I do not agree with anything my made up characters (Steve & the little kid in the park) said about Maureen or Joanne. But I hoped you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry guys, I didn't get this posted as quickly as I was hoping :( I hope you guys like this chapter though. It's shorter than the last couple. Thanks for all the reviews, keep them coming!**

Joanne started to walk back to the Life, frustration and anger running through her body. She was having a hard time believing that this guy, who at one point in her life she cared so much about could be so cold and ruthless. _He claims to love me, yet he can hurt someone that I love and talk to me like that, unbelievable_. Joanne had never before felt so much hatred towards another person. Her hands were shaking she was so angry; wanting so bad to go back and continue to yell at him. However, Joanne knew that she just needed to walk away from this situation; let the justice system do its job, he'd get what he deserved soon enough. Before she got out of the park she felt a hand grab tight onto her arm. She jumped and quickly spun around to see Steve standing there in front of her.

She stood there glaring at him, "what the hell do you want?" The hatred rang strong through her words. It was taking every ounce of fiber in her body not to hit him again. But Joanne knew that her words could hurt him more than her fist. Her words were her weapon; she continued, "leave me and Maureen alone. I don't want you. I don't even want you anyway near us."

"Joanne, just wait, listen to me please," his voice was soft, yet Joanne still felt a little uneasy standing there in front of him. This Steve was not the Steve she knew back in high school and college; she didn't know how he would react to anything she said and did, that slightly scared her. But she didn't let on that he was making her nervous. She started to back way from him heading out of the park, but every step Joanne took backwards, Steve took one forward.

"Steve stop," Joanne stuck her hand out. She then awkwardly looked down at her hand, _like that's going to stop him_. "Steve I got to go back to Maureen, she's probably worried about me by now."

"NO, NO, NO," Steve started stomping around, covering his eyes with his fists. He had started throwing a fit like a two year old. "She doesn't deserve you," he was forcibly walking back towards her. Something had come over him, he wasn't just angry, there was something else. Joanne wasn't moving, she had frozen solid in her steps. "I don't understand why you'd want a woman when you could have a man." He was clinching his fists; his arms were trembling.

"First off, I wouldn't call you a man," Joanne had blurted it out without thinking at potentially how mad he may get with her saying that. She didn't really care. She started getting daring with her words, "and why not a woman over a man. She knows exactly what I like, what makes me moan, and how to turn me on," Joanne was seductively walking towards him running her hands over her body.

"Stop it Joanne," Steve was screaming at her; a look of rage had come over him. Steve was trying everything to keep himself from hitting Joanne. He loved her and he didn't want to her hurt like he had hurt Maureen. Everything he had done he justified by his love for Joanne; for wanting her back. Then something exploded within Steve and before either of them knew what was happening Steve was pushing Joanne on a grass embankment, straddling her.

Joanne wasn't giving up that easy though, "what you going to do, hit me like you hit Maureen? Go ahead ya big man!" She was trying to act cocky and unscathed. If she doesn't appear weak and vulnerable, maybe he won't attempt to beat her up.

He was furiously shaking his head back and forth; his hands over his ears. Joanne was confused and almost freaked out by his reactions. She tried to release herself from underneath his body. But just as she was almost free, he realized it and had his hands on her shoulders pinning her back to the ground.

"What do you want Steve?" Joanne was trying to say this as calm as possible, seeing how crazy he was reacting. _Remain calm Joanne_. She was attempting to convince herself that if she was calm, that he may calm down and release her. Even though he was evidently crazy, she still didn't think that he would hit her. At least she hoped that her theory was correct.

He looked down at her, "I want you!" A look of pure evilness came over him. "But I can't have you because you don't want a man, but I just think you've forgotten what it was like to be with a man." Joanne now became terrified, her stomach in knots. "You always said it was good."

Joanne's body began to shake; her eyes were welling up with tears. This couldn't be happening, not to her. "Please Steve no," she was begging. She was looking around to see if anyone was there to help her, but no one was. Joanne wasn't letting Steve take anything else away from her, without putting up a fight. She managed to knee him, but not exactly where she had intended. However, it was close enough, that it caused some pain. Steve had lost his grip on Joanne, falling slightly to the side. She scrambled her way out from underneath his body. She didn't get too far though. She wasn't even on her feet when Steve yet again had a grasp on her and was quickly back over top of her.

This enraged Steve even more and he furiously reached down and ripped open Joanne's blouse. He continued tearing at it until her stomach and bra were fully revealed. She was twisting her body back and forth, hoping to break loose from his grips, or at least make it harder for him to continue. He bent over and started kissing and sucking on Joanne's neck, chest, and stomach. She was now screaming in terror; tears freely flowing from her eyes. He looked back up at Joanne's eyes, "you'll thank me later," he truly believed this was true; that if Joanne just had sex with him she'd remember what it was like to be with him and leave Maureen. Joanne was making every effort to release herself from him, but nothing seemed to be working.

Joanne just shook her head, she couldn't speak. All hope that she had of someone coming by was dwindling. She wasn't completely giving up, she'd occasionally make certain jerks or movements in hopes that he'd loose some grip. Eventually a feeling of defeat had come over her. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "Maureen," she cried out.

Steve stopped kissing on her when he heard her call out for Maureen. He went directly to unbuckle Joanne's pants. He slowly moved his hands down and unbuckled them. As he was ready to unzip them, he was knocked off of Joanne's body. Joanne's eyes shot open to see some guy pounding Steve. The guy had got in a few good punches, but Steve was quickly on his feet, running out of the park. The mystery man went to take off after him, but stopped remembering about Joanne.

He walked back over to Joanne helping her to her feet. She had buckled her pants back, but Steve had torn her blouse so bad that she couldn't cover herself completely.

"Here take this," the man had taken off his jacket and was delicately draping it over her shoulders. "Did he…?"

"No," Joanne was trembling, barely able to speak. "Thank you." She leaned over and hugged him. He softly wrapped his arms around her and held her. She completely broke down while she was hugging this strange man. Tears were streaming down her face; her body shaking uncontrollably.

"Joanne?" she heard a familiar voice from behind her. She turned around to see Mark and Roger running towards her. Roger ran up to her and took her in him arms.

"What happened?" Mark was glancing back and forth from the strange man to Joanne, puzzled and confused.

"Joanne?" Roger was trying to get her to tell them what had happened. She couldn't speak though. Every time she went to say a word, the tears came heavier. He was lightly rubbing her back while she continued to sob into this chest. Both Roger and Mark looked up at the strange man; both of them ready to jump him if need be.

The mystery man quickly realized that the guys wanted some answers and fast. "Look guys, I just came up on this guy trying to…" he paused looking over to see how tore up Joanne was, "some guy was trying to rape her; she said he didn't though." Roger and Mark looked at each other, fire in their eyes.

Roger pulled Joanne's face out of his chest and looked into her eyes, "Joanne was it Steve?" She just shook her head and buried back into his chest.

"Where'd he go?" Roger was trying to contain his anger, but he was finding it hard. His body was tensing, he wanted to kill him. _How could any man do this to a woman? _

"He ran off in that direction, I'm sorry. I thought I'd make sure she was ok instead of running after him." The guy actually seemed to genuinely care about her.

"That's ok man. Hey thanks though." Mark reached out and shook his hand. He was disgusted at what Steve had done to both Maureen and Joanne. He didn't understand any of this. This guy, who apparently loves Joanne, beats up her girlfriend and then tries to rape her. Rage was welling up inside of Mark, he wanted to find Steve, release some of his anger out on him. Right now though Mark knew that he needed to help Joanne and make sure she was ok. "Can I get your number, in case we need someone to identify him?" Through his anger Mark was trying to be practical.

"Definitely, I'll help anyway I can."

Roger took a piece of paper and pencil out of his coat pocket and handed it to Mark. He was still tightly holding onto Joanne, who's tears how begun to slow.

"My number is 555-2432. My name is Angelo, but everyone calls me Angel."

All three of them turned and looked at him, "Angel?" For the first time since Joanne had left the Life earlier, her eyes lit up.

"Yeah," the man looked confused at their astonishment to his name.

"Thanks Angel," Mark said looking at the man. "Thanks Angel," this time he said it softer looking up to the sky.

Roger and Joanne thanked him too. Joanne actually let go of Roger to hug the man once again. She slowly took off his jacket to give back to him. Roger quickly had his jacket around Joanne's delicate body. Angel then left the three of them alone in the park.

Roger led Joanne over to a bench where they all three sat down; Joanne in between the two men. They sat their awhile, no one speaking a word. Joanne had calmed down somewhat, but it was still evident of how much fear and pain remained inside of her.

Finally, Mark spoke up. "Are you ok?" Mark reached down to touch Joanne's knee. She gasped and jerked her leg away from his touch.

"Sorry Mark," she looked over at him, embarrassed at how she had reacted to his caring touch. "Yeah I'm ok."

"Well listen I'll take you back to your place and stay with you until Maureen comes home. Roger can go back to the Life, say we saw you outside in the alley and you were sick, so I just took you home."

"Ok," Joanne didn't really seem to care. Her eyes looked so distant. She had quit crying now, but knew it wouldn't take much to set off the tears again.

Mark and Roger stood up, helping Joanne to her feet. Roger hugged Joanne goodbye, told her he loved her and promised he wouldn't tell anyone what had happened tonight. He then turned and left to go back to the Life. As he was walking back he had to wipe a few stray tears from his cheek.

* * *

(Mark's POV)

I had brought Joanne back to her apartment. The entire way back she didn't speak one word to me; she just clutched onto my arm. I hadn't really expected her to say much anyway. I'm almost glad she didn't; I don't know if I would have known what to say to her. It wasn't fair what had happened to her or Maureen, this guy Steve was an ass.

She had gone back to the bedroom to change; she made a point to tell me not to come in the room, but to stand outside her bedroom door. I wasn't sure why she had asked me to do this but I did. She soon immerged from the bedroom and headed straight for the front door. She checked and double checked to make sure the door was locked.

She turned around and faced me, "please don't tell Maureen what happened," she was so serious, "and tell her I'm asleep, even if she comes home in the next few minutes." She just looked at me, she looked terrified. I went over to hug her, she jumped at the touch of my hand on her back; her body rigid. She had quickly pulled away, "thank you Mark." And with that she headed back to her bedroom.

I sat down on the couch waiting on Maureen to get home. She was going to have so many questions and I'm sure she'll be dramatic about it. Hopefully, she'll just let Joanne sleep tonight.

I had been sitting there about twenty minutes when I heard the front door being unlocked. Maureen and Eden walked in; Maureen looked like she had been crying, "where is she Mark?"

**Ok so? I was kind of hesitant of posting this chapter. I wasn't wanting this to seem like a repeat of what happened with Maureen, because I have some plans to build onto this happening. Hopefully it didn't feel like I was just rewriting Maureen/Steve fight to Joanne/Steve fight. I'm alittle nervous but please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks so very much for all the reviews...appreciate them. Not that long of a chapter, but hey it's something right!**

(Mark's POV)

I stood up walking over to a very apparent distraught Maureen. Surely, Roger hadn't broken his promise to Joanne and told them what happened. My stomach was turning; I was nervous that Roger had broken down and told Maureen. I didn't need to be the one to tell Maureen; neither did Roger for that fact. This is something Joanne needs to tell her, not any of us. As I walked towards I just stared at her. For once, I couldn't tell what she was thinking. This fact made me even more nervous to speak.

"Ok Maureen," my voice cracking. I reached over to take hold of her hands. "Joanne didn't want you to know, at least not yet. She loves you, you know that right?"

Maureen looked very confused at what I was saying to her. She slowly pulled her hands away, "Mark," it was very child-like response, "I just wanted to know where Joanne was. I know she loves me, we're ok Mark. I just wanted to check on her, see if she was feeling any better." She was looking at me like I was an idiot. I pretty much felt like an idiot in that moment too. I should have known Roger wouldn't have said anything to her. Roger typically doesn't like having to deal with dramatic Maureen or Maureen at all for that matter. Maureen and Eden were both still staring at me, very confused looks plastered on their faces.

"Oh well of course," I was trying to cover up my seriousness of earlier. "She's asleep."

"Well, thanks Mark for bringing her home," still this awkward look on her face. She turned to walk down the hall, but something stopped her and she turned around. "You know though, if you would have come and got me, I'd brought her home. If Roger and you just found her in the alley, why didn't you?" I think she had just become aware of how ridiculous is sounded that I would take Joanne home while Maureen was just right inside.

"Well…umm…" I didn't really know what to say. I wasn't the greatest at producing lies off the top of my head. "You…were just having so much fun, I just thought I'd bring her home." Thank goodness, I had come up with something.

"Mark you ok, you're acting awful weird?" I could tell she was trying to figure out in her head what was going on. The way her eyes were glaring at me, I could have sworn she was trying to read my mind. "But thanks anyway for bringing her home," apparently she was giving up on figuring it out tonight. Either that or her brain started to hurt. She still looked at me like I had lost my mind though when she turned to go to the bedroom. "Lock up when you leave."

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

Mark was acting awfully weird, even more than usual. He was just so…I don't know, strange. Roger wasn't acting normal either when he came back to the Life. I could have sworn I saw him crying. Something was going on with the two of them, I knew it. But oh well. I'll find out later. I need to go check on Joanne anyway. She's probably gotten herself sick from taking care of me lately and making sure I was ok. Got to love her for it, but now I guess it was going to be my turn to take care of her.

I walked into the bedroom, lights off and Joanne curled up on her side of the bed. Apparently she wasn't feeling too bad, she was already asleep. Usually when Joanne was sick, she couldn't sleep. I quietly changed my clothes and got in bed beside her. I moved over to curl up beside Joanne; I wrapped my arm around her waist. Her body was so warm and loveable. I squeezed her closer into my body. Suddenly Joanne jumped out of bed and was on her feet. She was gasping for air; I could see a small twitch in her hand.

"Joanne, what's wrong?" I crawled out of bed and was making my way over to her. She was just standing there solid, her hands shaking, looking at me with panic in her eyes. I gently placed my hand on the small of her back, she jumped at my touch. "Joanne?" I had become worried now and confused. She was being so jumpy and almost paranoid. This was not typical Joanne; especially when we were in the bedroom alone.

"I'm sorry," her voice was shaky. "I must have just been having a nightmare." She went to walk out of the room past me; I stretched my arm out to stop her. I could tell something was bothering her and I wanted to be there for her, just hold her. But as she walked by me she purposively avoided me. She didn't even say anything to me; she didn't even look at me. She just walked out of the bedroom and headed straight for the bathroom.

What in the hell is going on with everyone tonight. First Roger, then Mark, now Joanne. What happened? I was almost scared to know. I think it made it worse because of who it was acting so weird. If it would have just been Roger, I probably wouldn't really have worried. That's why I didn't say anything when he came back to the Life. But then Mark acting all peculiar around me, not really saying much. And now Joanne, she wasn't even talking to me. A million different things were running through my head. Not too many of them made much sense, but still yet some of them scared the hell out of me to think that is what might be upsetting everyone. I walked across the hall to the bathroom, lightly tapping on the door. "Joanne can I get you something? Are you ok?"

"Ummm, yeah, I'm ok. Go back to bed, I'll be there soon." Her voice was very cold and rigid. Something was going on, I knew it. _Why won't she just tell me? _I reluctantly obliged though to her request and went back to bed. I got back in bed, this time making sure I was completely on my side. Thinking about how cold Joanne was being towards me brought tears to my eyes. Something was going on I knew it and Joanne didn't feel as though she could tell me; that really hurt. I wanted her to know that she can depend on me, just like I was able to depend on her.

She finally walked back in about ten minutes later; again not speaking to me, avoiding eye contact. She crawled in on her side, staying close to the edge. I again then attempted to cuddle with her. This is when she finally spoke to me.

"Maureen, could you let go of me. I just don't feel much like cuddling tonight." Her voice was timid; she faced the window the entire time. She didn't even look at me. There was no I love you, goodnight, no kiss, nothing. I just moved over and gave her some space. It really hurt though to hear her say that. I'm not sure there were many nights when we didn't cuddle. Cuddling was one of Joanne's favorite things to do. Tears were now silently rolling down my face.

I laid there in silence. Wanting to talk to Joanne about what was going on, but I didn't know how. I was positive something had happened, but obviously she didn't want to tell me. I thought about calling Mark or Roger, but that wasn't fair to put them in the middle of this. Plus, I wanted to hear it from Joanne. As I was drifting off to sleep, I decided that I'd move my foot over against hers. It always seemed that no matter what, even if we just had the biggest fight, we'd sleep with our feet touching one another's. It was our way to say _'I'm sorry'_ and _'I love you'_ with still seeming upset and being our stubborn selves. I guess it allowed us to cool down, yet make up. Anytime that she had been mad at me earlier in the day, when we'd come to bed and she'd move her foot over to mine, it just reminded me that she loved me. So, I slowly began moving my foot closer to Joanne's. I finally came in contact with her foot; then she pulled it away.

**The verdict is? Sorry again about the short chapter, I promise the next chapter is shaping up to be a long one. Hopefully it'll be up soon. I'm not sure how well I actually like this chapter personally, didn't find Mark's POV that easy to write, so if I were you I wouldn't expect too many more Mark POV if any. But anyway I hoped you liked it. Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Ok...first off I don't really think this chapter is ready to be posted. It's not quite as long as I would like it to be, nor does it have all the "scenes" that I wanted in this chapter. So please don't be too harsh...forewarn you it's not all that great. However, there is good reason for me posting. I have a hectic weekend and then I'm leaving for NYC on Sunday (staying through Thurs.) so if I don't post tonight there was a good chance that another ch. wouldn't be up until next Thurs. possibly even next Sat. So I wanted to give you guys something since I hadn't added a ch. in about 2 days now. Hope you still like it though.**

(Maureen's POV)

I woke up the next morning to see an empty space where Joanne usually slept. She was suppose to be off of work today, but she was acting awfully weird last night so who knows. I just laid there for awhile; looking up at the ceiling. Last night was so frustrating. I hated knowing that something was wrong with Joanne and that she didn't want to tell me. What's worse is that Mark and Roger know what's going on with her, but her own girlfriend doesn't. Something is so screwed up with that situation. I wanted to help her, but how if she won't tell me. Laying there running all this through my head, just made me more and more upset. If I was going to solve this mystery I had to talk to Joanne; then we can go from there.

Finally, I forced myself to get out of bed. As I started walking towards the door, I could feel my heart start racing. I was getting nervous. Since she apparently didn't want to tell me I figured it had to be something bad. I slowly walked down the hall towards Joanne's voice; she was on the telephone with someone. As I got closer I could make out more of the conversation; and I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I suddenly stopped in the hallway knowing she couldn't see me, yet I could hear her.

"_Yes I know…I will I promise, but how…I can't do that…because" _who in the hell is she talking to, "_Roger I can't tell her yet," _that answers my question, "_you know how upset she would be Roger if she knew…I know she would…I get that Roger, but just think about it for a second…you haven't told anyone have you…good…they don't need to know, not yet…I agree I should tell Maureen first…_

I had heard enough and burst into the kitchen where Joanne was leaning up against the counter talking on the phone. She saw me walk in; she looked like she had seen a ghost. I put my hands on my hip, cocking one hip to the side, narrowed my eyes and glared at her. She just kept repeating _umm, umm, umm_, into the phone. I just started shaking my head at her, turned around and headed out of the kitchen. I was pissed.

"Hey Roger, let me call you back, bye." Joanne came rushing out of the kitchen after me to the bedroom. I had gone to get my coat; I was leaving. I wasn't leaving for good, just to go cool down. "Baby, listen," she was standing in the doorway of the bedroom. I just grabbed my coat from the closet and shoved right by her. "Baby," I heard her crying from behind me as she followed me to the front door. I didn't even act like I was paying attention to her.

But that conversation seemed to me that the big news was that Joanne was cheating on me and possibly even with Roger or Mark, he seemed like he was in on this little secret of theirs too. I swung around staring at her, "which one was it Joanne, Roger or Mark? Or maybe just some random girl you saw when you left me alone last night at the Life." My words were harsh and hateful.

"What! Are you serious? You think I'm cheating on you with Roger or Mark? Are you listening to yourself?" She was angry now. I had caused her to go from apologizing to me to now ripping me a new one for doubting her, yet again.

"What else am I suppose to think? You wouldn't talk to me last night, or even let me touch you. I could tell Mark and Roger knew something." I didn't want to fight, but it just seemed to start and I wasn't backing down.

"Maybe you could just ask me instead of jumping to conclusions." She wasn't yelling now, but she was using that lawyer voice of hers that she uses in court. You know the kind of stern, sometimes almost smart-alecky.

"I tried Joanne. You wouldn't talk to me, remember?" She just stood there, shooting daggers at me with those eyes of hers.

We stood there in silence for awhile. Apparently she wasn't going to give me any answers so I swung the door open to leave in a huff. That's when I heard the worse thing I ever thought I could possibly hear come from Joanne's mouth, "Steve tried to rape me last night; there that's the big secret, satisfied?" she had screamed it at me with all the pain and fear in the world.

I froze. I could hear her crying from inside in the apartment. My body was on emotional overload. I was feeling rage, fear, pain, and shame; they were all wrapped up inside of me ready to explode. I turned around and saw Joanne holding herself up by the chair. Tears were rolling down her face. I just stood there for a while; I couldn't move. I could tell she was crying out to me for support, yet I could see some anger within her. I had jumped to some terrible conclusions. I walked back into the apartment, shut the door, and took off my coat. I slowly walked over to her. "Joanne, I'm sorry," I muttered. I felt so bad for first off what happened to her and then I went and jumped to all these conclusions. It must have been horrible for her and I wasn't making it any easier on her. I tried to hug her, but she pushed my arms away.

"You seriously thought I would cheat on you Maureen? First you thought I was cheating on you with Steve now it's either Mark or Roger?" I could see how much she was hurting. Not just from what Steve tried to do to her, but from me doubting her yet again. And really could I blame her?

"Joanne," I was trying to sound as apologetic as possible. "I'm sorry pookie, really I am."

"Whatever Maureen," she quickly had grabbed her stuff from the kitchen table and was heading for the door. I tried to keep her from leaving but she wasn't having it. She stormed out of here, just like I had been planning to until she told me about Steve. I walked out into the hallway and watched her storm down the hallway to the elevator; screaming her name occasionally hoping she'd turn around, but she didn't. She got on the elevators and headed somewhere.

I decided to stay put though in the apartment. I walked back inside and went and buried myself into the couch. My emotional overload exploded. I was punching the cushions, and then sobbing into them. What in the hell was going on with Joanne and me; why couldn't we just seem to keep it together lately. We had been doing great until Steve came into our lives, then this whole fiasco started. What if we can't make it through all of this shit Steve had been putting us through, then what? We have had our ups and downs before, but nothing quite like this. I got the worse feeling in the pit of my stomach; wonder if I lose her. What would I do with out her?

* * *

(Joanne's POV) 

I was quickly down the stairs and out into the cool fall air of New York City. Why I had left the apartment, I really wasn't sure. Maureen was only trying to help I knew that; but hearing her yet again questioning my love and commitment to her was too much right now. There was so much pain built up inside of me; I needed to talk to her, I had wanted to talk to her. But of course she jumped to conclusions and we got in yet another fight. Maybe I should have just told her last night, but the pain was too new. Plus she had been dealing with her own encounter with Steve and I didn't want to burden her with my pain as well. Because I knew she'd completely focus on me and forget all about healing herself. Which I guess just proves to me that she loves me. Anymore that wasn't anything I typically questioned, but her doubting me so much recently wasn't sitting well with me.

I'd been walking for who knows how long when I realized that I was standing outside of Roger and Mimi's building. Was this a coincidence or did some part of me want to end up here? Roger and I had connected somehow through all of this. I had begun looking at him like an older brother. Someone who I could look to for help and support; someone who would just listen and not jump to any wild conclusions.

I made my way up the stairs to Roger's loft. He must have been expecting me because I barely had enough time to knock on the door once when it flew up, revealing a very sympathetic looking Roger. He had this little one sided grin going on; if he was a woman I'd been all over him. He was absolutely adorable standing there in his ripped jeans and t-shirt; his hair wild and wavy. Without saying a word to me he moved aside inviting me into the loft.

As I was making my way over to sit on the couch, Roger had walked up behind me placing his hands on my shoulder, his sudden touch from behind frightened me and I jumped. "Ok Joanne what happened?" He must feel really sorry for me, because typical Roger would not want to hear about how dramatic Maureen was being or how unreasonable she was; however this Roger, the side of Roger I only saw when it was the two of us alone, didn't seem to care if he had to hear about Maureen if it made me feel better.

We had sat down on each end of the couch facing one another; settling in for quite the conversation. "She thinks I'm cheating on her…well she thought I was." I then got this little ridiculous smirk on my face, "and to make it even more ridiculous, she thought I was cheating on her with Mark or you."

Roger started laughing. He was literally bent over, holding his stomach laughing. I just glared at him, "is that funny?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Joanne. It's just that I can't believe that Maureen would even consider that." He was still laughing and I was still glaring. "I mean come on Joanne." He was trying to sound apologetic now that he had laughed at the idea. "First off, you don't like guys. Second off both Mark and me are in other relationships, with your friends." Ok so it was kind of funny the idea of me with Mark or Roger, but I wasn't laughing so hard I had to hold my stomach. However, it did lighten the mood and put me at ease.

Just then the phone rang, "still screening?" I ask.

"Of course." He acted like I had just asked the dumbest question ever in my life.

"_Sppeeeaaakkk."_

"_Hey Roger. It's Maureen, pick up. I know you're screening" _she paused for a moment waiting for Roger to answer, but he didn't move from the couch next to me. I'm glad he didn't. _"Ok well fine then just listen to me. Is Joanne there with you? If she is please tell her to come home, we have to talk. Pookie, I'm sorry I really am. I know you wouldn't cheat on me with Mark or Roger," _neither of us could help but laugh, "_So please just come home. I love you Joanne." _With that she hung up.

"Joanne you should go talk to her, she really did sound sorry." He did make some sense, she did sound sorry. However, I just didn't know if I could deal with her right now. I was finding it difficult to talk about what had happened. And it seemed like every time someone even touched me I jumped. And knowing Maureen she'd want to make up by having some crazy ass sex. I didn't need that either right now, I just needed to talk.

"Roger, can I just stay here for a bit. I promise I won't stay long." I was pleading almost with him for him to let me stay. Something inside me just told me I needed to stay and not go home right now.

"Of course Joanne you can stay as long as you like." He reached over slowly and gently hugged him. I think he could sense that I was reasonably jumpy. "So do you want to talk about it?"

"Roger, I'm scared to death. Every time I see a man walking by me, my body tenses and I get nervous. Every time someone touches me, even Maureen, I jump away. Last night Roger she tried to cuddle with me and when she touched me I jumped out of the bed. How ridiculous is that?"

"Well have you told Maureen any of this?" Roger the therapist.

"She didn't give me a chance to," I could feel myself starting to get mad again about our earlier fight. "Roger I really do want to tell her, I know I should, but how. This is just going to hurt her more than she has already been hurt."

"But Joanne, you have to realize that Maureen just wants to help you too. You guys can just be there for each other. You need each other right now; you don't need to be fighting." Roger was actually making some sense. I had known this, but to hear someone else say it helped.

Our conversation began trailing off onto other things such as Roger's music, Mark and Eden, and Mimi's birthday coming up. Roger had said he wanted to plan something nice for her, but he really wasn't sure what yet. I of course volunteered to help in any way I could; give me something to get involved with, hopefully keeping my mind off of everything else crazy happening in my life right now. I stayed there for about another hour or so and finally figured it was time to head home and deal with all of this. Roger kissed me goodbye, wished me luck, and said he'd be in touch soon. I'm glad that Roger and I have become so close.

**Ok so deliver the news...what did you think? Please review. If there is any possible way I may try to have a ch. up this Sat. night, but I don't know how realistic that is...but I'll try. If you guys have any ideas/suggestions of something you would want to see more or less of let me know. Thanks for reading! And I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this story so much :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Yay finally! Thanks everyone for the reviews and being so patient. Hope you all enjoy this one. I kind of just threw this one together this evening. I felt bad because I hadn't been able to post since I was out of town and wanted to get going again on this story. Pretty much still exhausted from my trip, so I hope this ch. is ok. And I made this one a longer ch. Actually it was going to be longer, but I got tired.**

(Joanne's POV)

I stood outside of our apartment door for about five minutes; just starring at it. My body wouldn't let me move. I wasn't sure what to expect out of Maureen when I went inside. A million scenarios had run through my mind on the way back; most of them ending badly. Maureen was typically very dramatic and drama was the last thing I needed right now from her. Usually Maureen's answer to any problem was to have sex. Part of me could understand why, cause she's damn good at it. But still I didn't need that from her right now; I needed her to….well to be more like Roger right now. Just to listen and talk to me, not expect that after our conversation that we'd being having sex in some random part of our apartment. Not that I ever minded having sex with her, like I said she was damn good at it, but right now just wasn't the time. However, maybe I am underestimating Maureen. I guess there is only one way to find out.

I slowly opened the door to find Maureen sitting at the kitchen table. The apartment was silent and she looked as though she had been crying. When I walked it she looked up at me, didn't move or say a word. I just stood there returning her stare.

I finally took a deep breath a spoke, "so I'm home."

"Yeah, finally." This came out rather snooty and sarcastically. But I guess she did have some right to act this way. I had just told her what had happened and then ran off to spend time and talk to someone else.

"Well….yeah…so…." I was speechless; I really didn't know what to say to her. Granted she had been acting like a bitch earlier, but it wasn't all her fault. She wasn't saying anything and she was still sitting down. I could see the hurt she was feeling inside. And I didn't know what to say or do. I didn't want to completely give into her because it wasn't all my fault that we were having problems right now. So, I just decided that I'd go back to the bedroom and when she wanted to talk she'd come find me.

I made it all the way to the bedroom without even hearing her move. I was putting my things away when she appeared in the doorway. "So you aren't going to talk to me again tonight either?" I couldn't really tell if she was pissed off or concerned; maybe a little bit of both.

"Maureen look, I did want to talk to you…I do want to talk to you."

"Then why aren't you? Joanne you know how bad it hurts me that you don't feel as though you can talk to me about this; that you'd rather talk to Roger?" I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She genuinely looked hurt.

I went over and sat down on the edge of our bed; my eyes gazing at the floor. "Roger has just been very easy to talk to lately. And," I looked up at her, "he was there, he saw me at the most vulnerable point. So since he's already seen me that vulnerable I feel as though I can talk to him."

"But Joanne, I'm your girlfriend. You should be able to talk to me about anything. I love you and I'm here for you." She came over and sat down beside me on the bed. Her hand was soon rubbing the inside of my thigh.

"That's why Maureen," I jumped up in a huff. She looked rather surprised at my actions. "Roger understands that the last thing I need right now is to be touched like that. I was almost raped and you're trying to have sex with me."

"What's so wrong with that?" She was on her feet screaming right back at me. "I love you and I just want to show you that."

"And by having sex with me is the only way you can show me you love me. What about just listening to me? Talking to me? Or just letting me cry on your shoulder?" I was now crying. I was blowing up at her. Why couldn't she just understand this, that sex doesn't always solve everything. She's a sexual person, I get that, that is one thing I love about her, but I just wish she'd understand there was more to a relationship.

She almost seemed scared now. Her eyes were screaming out in fear and pain. "But Joanne what if that's the only way I can help you? What if I can't help you through this?" Tears were running down her cheeks. Her body was nearly shaking from the outburst of emotion. Her body collapsed to the ground; she leaned over and laid her head on top of the bed. "Joanne, what if I'm not enough?"

I had no idea that this was what she was thinking. How could she ever imagine that she wasn't enough for me? _Oh wait, that's right Joanne you have been running off to talk to Roger about all of this_. I walked over to her, kneeling in front of her. "Maureen, all I need is for you to be here for me. That's all I need. I just need you. You don't have to be all sexual with me for me to know that you love me."

She looked up at me, her eyes already red and puffy. "Joanne, whatever you need. Just please talk to me about it. And I promise, I'll just listen. The next time we are in any way intimate with each other, will be because you initiated it."

I sat down beside her on the floor. I reached over and wiped a stray tear from her cheek; even that made my body shiver from fear. "Do you really want to know everything that happened?" She didn't speak, she just nodded her head. So, I told her about how I had saw him when I was up at the bar and how I chased him into the park. The tears once again started forming in her eyes. I then told her about me yelling at him and punching him, she laughed. Then I got to the hard part…him throwing me on the ground and then himself. I told her about Angel and how he saved me and about Mark and Roger finding me.

"I'm sorry baby," it was barely understandable through her crying. She stood up and walked over to the window starring out into the cool New York City streets. Her pain quickly turned into anger as she grabbed the nearest thing to her and threw it across the room, "that bastard!"

I quickly ran over to her trying to calm her down. I grabbed her shoulders and starred into her eyes. "It's ok, I'm ok."

"I'm sorry pookie. I should be the one trying to calm you down, not you trying to calm me down." She had a point. She walked over to the bed and laid down. "I'm going to lay down for awhile, is that ok?"

"Yeah, of course. I need to take a shower anyway."

"Can we talk more later? And I promise just talk." She was so caring in her words. I could tell that she truly was concerned about me. Not that I ever doubted that she wasn't ever concerned about me.

"We'll talk." I turned to leave the room. As I turned off the light switch I looked back over at Maureen. She reached over and grabbed my pillow and cuddled up into it. She took a deep breath into the pillow. I think we are going to be ok.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

I'm not really sure how long I had been asleep. But I could hear the shower running so either I didn't sleep long or Joanne had waited awhile before getting in the shower. I laid there for awhile, thinking about Joanne. I am determined to help her. She needs me, so I'm going to be there for her. And in the way I promised. In every relationship I had had before, sex seemed to always fix things. But with Joanne it was different. When I had sex with her it always meant something; there was always those intense emotions. Granted we would have sex after having a fight, but we would talk about the fight too though. That was one of the reasons I knew that my relationship with her was real. Because I was always wanting to have sex with her, yet I still wanted to talk to her about anything. I wanted to know what was going on with her and what she was feeling. She's my pookie and I love her.

I got up and walked to the bathroom. I had to brush my teeth. I knocked on the door, "Joanne, can I come in? I need to brush my teeth." I could hear her laughing in the shower. She knew how anal I could be about my teeth being clean.

"Yeah, it's unlocked."

I walked in and made a conscious effort to head straight to the sink. I could see the reflection of the shower in the mirror. I wanted to so bad go and join her in there, but I wasn't going to. I know that I couldn't and shouldn't, but it was hard to restrain myself. The shower was one of our favorite places in the apartment to mess around in. So obviously standing there in the bathroom while she was in the shower, not being able to get in with her, was hard. So many memories are flooding my mind. My favorite memories though oddly enough are of us just kissing in the shower. I loved kissing her in the shower. Well I loved kissing her when we were anywhere; she was a great kisser. I remember the first time we kissed; it was actually the first time we met.

"_Hey Maureen I have to cater this party tonight so we will have to push our plans back till about 12 or so." My friend Katie and I had plans to go out to this new bar in the village. Mark had been so wrapped up with Roger and that camera that I had found myself hanging out with Katie more and more. We had met after one of my protest one night. She worked for a catering company in the city while she was trying to make it as a singer. _

"_Well how about I just meet you there and we can leave from there is that ok?"_

"_Yeah sure no problem. Come whenever you want there will be so many people there I'm sure they won't even notice," she chuckled a little a bit. And she was right, most of these high class society parties were just a bunch of people gathered around to have an excuse to get drunk and talk about how much money they had. We said our goodbyes and hung up the phone._

_It was about 10:30 and I was getting tired of just sitting in the loft listening to Mark talk to Roger about April or about getting off the drugs. I decided I'd go ahead and leave. If nothing else maybe I could swing a few free drinks. I went and told Mark I was leaving, I'm not even sure he heard me or would have even cared if he had. _

_I finally made it to this place. There was a sign out front that said, "Reserved party to congratulate the success of Joanne Jefferson." Another rich bitch showing off her money. I spotted Katie standing and the bar and she waved for me to come in._

"_Hey, you're here kinda early?"_

"_Yeah, sorry. I just couldn't stand being in that loft much longer. So how's the party?" I grabbed a glass of wine and chugged it._

"_Same thing as usual. Everyone just standing around talking about their money and getting drunk." We both rolled our eyes. _

_I grabbed another glass of wine from the table; Katie just laughed. "Hey, I'm going to go sit outside for awhile ok? I'll be back when I need another glass." I had saw this side door which I was guessing led to an alley of some sort. I made my way through the crowd, getting some stares because I looked nothing like these people._

_I walked outside realizing I wasn't the only person with this idea. On the steps there sat this lady. She was dressed in this little black dress; her hair braided and pinned back in just the right places. She was a black woman, with dark brown eyes…she looked as bored as I did._

"_Care if I sit down?"_

_She most have not realized that someone had walked outside because she jumped at the question. "Oh no, go ahead."_

"_I'm Maureen," I politely extended my hand. _

"_I'm Joanne."_

"_Wait a minute, like the Joanne this party is for?"_

"_That would be me." She rolled her eyes and took a swig of her wine._

"_Why are you out here then and not inside?"_

"_I'm just a reason for my parents to have a party. I just got a job here in New York with a law firm, so they decided to celebrate."_

"_Well that's a pretty big deal for you lawyers isn't it? To work in New York?"_

"_Well not when the people who run the law firm you got hired at is your parents." We both laughed. She had the cutest laugh and most beautiful smile._

_We sat and talked for awhile about quite a variety of things. She actually intrigued me; there was just something about her. She had caught my attention when I first walked out and she had managed to keep it for quite sometime. I found myself flirting with her. Which was totally a weird experience for me because I'd never even thought of flirting with a girl. I appreciated other women's beauty but more than that there was never anything. Joanne was different though somehow. I enjoyed just being there with her and talking to her; and not in the same way as I did my other friends like Katie. _

_I was telling her a story about something or other and for some reason I reached over and touched her leg. We both became silent when I did. And for some reason I didn't move my hand. I left it there, just looking at her. And she was looking right back._

"_Maureen?"_

_But I didn't let her say much more. I found myself leaning in closer to her. Finally our lips met and our bodies had moved closer to one another's. Her arms were wrapped around my waist; her hands rubbing the small of my back. My arms were around her neck; my hands occasionally running threw her thick dark hair. Our kiss was so passionate, so intense. I'll never forget it. It was nothing like I had ever shared with Mark or anyone before. Something inside of me knew right then, that something was to come of this…and that I wanted there to be._

"Maureen, hello, earth to Maureen" I was snapped back into reality by Joanne screaming from behind the shower curtain; only her face being revealed. "You ok?"

"Yeah," I smiled, "Just remembering something…something about us." She smiled back at me. She actually looked happy.

"Well, can you hand me a towel please?"

I reached over and got her and towel and took over to her. She reached her hand out from behind the curtain and took the towel.

"Thanks"

I turned and walked out of the bathroom to leave to finish getting ready. As I got ready to shut the bathroom door I yelled back to her, "Hey Joanne, just so you know I was remembering about our first kiss."

I shut the door and headed down the hallway. "Hey Maureen," I could hear her yelling from inside the bathroom, "I love you."

**So what did you think? Worth the wait? What about the flashback? Ok so please review this one as usual. I'll try to get another ch. posted asap. I'm having some conflict of what I want to do next, so hopefully I'll decide soon. Thanks for reading...and hopefully reviewing!**


	20. Chapter 20

**So here you go, another ch already. Thanks for the reviews, I love reading them. They always make me feel better and want to write more. Honestly, though I'm surprised you guys are liking it so much...but I'm glad you are. I'm not real sure about this ch. b/c like I said earlier I wasn't sure what to do next. But hopefully you like it. **

(Joanne's POV)

Once I had gotten out of the shower and finished getting ready Maureen and I decided that we'd go out for dinner. With everything that had been going on lately Maureen and I hadn't got to go out to dinner just the two of us for quite sometime. It always seemed like someone else ended up joining us or something happened to where we couldn't go at all. There was this little Italian restaurant near Union Square Park that we decided to try out; Eden and Mark absolutely raved about it.

"Is this ok?" The waiter was a handsome young Italian; his Italian accent still strong. We sat down and he took our drink orders and left us so that we could look over the menu.

We sat silent for awhile. Maybe because there was so much to look through on the menu or maybe because we didn't know what to say. Lately that seemed to be a recurring problem with us. Never before had we ever had trouble speaking our minds, but this was different. I couldn't take too much more of this; Maureen was acting like if she spoke I'd break into a million pieces. She looked so uneasy and nervous sitting across the table from me. It was like she was on her first date all over again.

The waiter returned with our drinks and some bread. He took our orders and left us alone in our silence.

"So, when are you going back to work?" Maybe that was the only conversation starter she could think of; I was sort of shocked she picked that topic but at least she was putting forth some effort.

"I called the office today told them I wouldn't be back until next week. So that gives me a few more days off I suppose."

"Are you sure you'll be up to going back to that office?" She looked up at me with apologetic eyes. Like she didn't mean to bring that up; that I'd be returning to the place where Steve had reentered my life. "I'm sorry Joanne, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." She was rather quick adding on this statement. I truly felt as though she thought she was going to break me by talking about anything related to what has happened lately.

"Maureen, it's ok. We can talk about it. It helps to talk about it, especially to you." I wanted to reach out and touch her but something inside of me was holding me back. I could tell that she wanted to help, but was still scared she wasn't going to be able to do enough. Even though running off and talking to Roger had helped me, maybe it hurt Maureen more than I realized.

"Even more than talking to Roger?" Her voice was soft, I could barely make out what she was saying. Her hands were fiddling with her glass, her face staring out into the street.

"Yes more than Roger." I made sure to be very blunt with this statement. "Maureen it was never that I didn't want to talk to you."

"Then what was it Joanne?" She had looked back at me. Her pain and hurt was smeared across her face.

"Maureen we've talked enough about Roger. I want you to be there for me, not him. You're my girlfriend and I love you more than anything." She had this uncertain look on her face, that scared me. "Please tell me you know that?"

"I know you do."

Our food had come by then. We ate the rest of our dinner in silence. Every once in awhile I'd glance up to catch her starring at me. I'd just grin at her and go back to eating. We shared those little glances throughout dinner, still no words being exchanged though even in those moments. After we finished eating, I paid for the bill and we walked back out into the cool fall night.

We just started walking around; no one saying anything. I tried speaking a few times; I'd go to move my mouth but no words would come out. I caught her doing the same thing as well. At one point I looked over at her, a single tear drop slowly flowing down her cheek. I can't stand this. All this pain and hurt between us. Both of us wanting to help the other, yet not sure exactly what to do. You can ask or be there for someone, but really what does that mean and when do you know it is truly enough.

As we continued our walk in silence I reached over and grabbed hold of Maureen's hand. I slowly slid my fingers into between hers and squeezed tightly to her hand. She looked down at our hands intertwined with one another's; she squeezed my hand. Her eyes looked up and met mine. And there it was, that gorgeous smile of hers once against making an appearance across her face. I saw a bench and led her over to it, realizing that this might be the best time to just sit and talk.

We sat down; still clutching onto one another's hand. "Maureen you are enough for me. All I need is for you to be here. Let me cry on your shoulder when I need to, listen when I start on a rant about what happened, and talk to me, tell me everything is going to be ok. Because Maureen as long as you believe that I'm…that we…are going to be ok, I feel safe. As long as you're with me, I feel that everything is going to work out." During my little speech she had started to cry. I could tell she felt some relief from what I had told her, which I'm glad because that meant she wasn't feeling as inadequate. However, probably the worst thing that could have happened then happened; Roger called.

"Hey Roger," Maureen's face dropped, even though I knew she liked Roger, I knew he was the last person she wanted around or talking to me. "Yeah…we had dinner together, talked a little…I think so…let me ask her…ok…thanks Roger…bye." I hung up the phone and turned to see an almost worried Maureen starring at me.

"Don't worry so much Maureen. He is my friend you know. I'm not going to stop talking to him completely."

"I know," she looked down at the ground ashamed of the fact that she was even worrying about it.

"Everyone is heading over to his place to just hang out. Collins is providing the alcohol; they wanted to know if wanted to come over." I actually was hoping she'd say she wanted to go. Being around everyone else may help us to relax a little bit more this evening. The tension between us from earlier was easing up, maybe this would help some more. Plus, I just wanted to go.

"Yeah sure, why not, let's go." She stood up and reached down for my hand. I had let go of her when I had reached for my phone. I reached up and took hold of her hand. We didn't let go until we made it to Roger's.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

We walked in the loft, everyone rushed over to hug Joanne. Funny how she didn't jump when they all hugged her, but when I touched her in any manner she freaked out. She was quickly drug away from me by Eden; she said she wanted to show her something. I figure she just wanted to talk to her about me.

I walked over to the counter and poured myself some vodka into a glass. Collins was sitting alone on the couch so I decided I'd join him. I wasn't up for too much of the partying or goofing off tonight. Mark, Roger, and Mimi were sitting around the table playing some card game and Eden had managed to get Joanne out to the fire escape. So good ole Collins was my choice to hang out with this evening.

"Hey honey, how are you holding up?" His voice was endearing. He always seemed to have this way of pretending he genuinely cared about each and every one of us. Maybe he did though, but that just seemed like a lot of shit to have to be worrying about.

"Been better," I took a big swig of my vodka.

"Easy there chief."

I just laughed at his comment. My eyes happened to gaze over at the card game happening; Roger's eyes were fixated on Joanne outside. At first I really didn't think too much about it. But as the night grew longer and I drank more and more vodka, it started to bother me. I think that I had already started my third glass before Joanne managed to come back inside. By now I was becoming drunk Maureen, typically not good especially now. She walked over to the card game to see who was winning. Her and Roger exchanged a few words and a hug. I could feel myself getting mad, but why. They were friends. She finally made her way over to me and Collins on the couch. However, she didn't even sit on the couch with me, not even when Collins offered her his seat. She sat in the chair beside me and started to talk to Collins about something. I wasn't really paying attention, I was too focused on trying to keep my emotions in check.

I had noticed Eden walk over to the kitchen, so I decided I'd have a little chat with her. Of anyone she was the person I cared less if I pissed off or said something that maybe I shouldn't.

"Hey Maureen," she was sober and chipper; and being way too nice to me already.

"So what did you and Joanne talk about?" I was trying to act like I really didn't care, that I was just starting conversation. I grabbed the vodka bottle to begin pouring me another glass when Eden grabbed it from me.

"Do you really think you need another one?" She was rather snooty. Who does she think she is telling me I shouldn't drink anymore, it's not like she's Joanne. I just smiled at her though and grabbed the bottle back from her. I poured my drink and started to walk back over to Joanne, maybe she'd acknowledge me this time. As I walked away from Eden though I heard her say, "you don't deserve her you know," under her breath. And that was all I needed to go off.

"What did you say?" I must have been pretty loud because everyone in the loft stopped what they were doing and looked over at us. I walked closer to her, starring right at her. "I don't deserve her. Who do you think you are?" I was quite irate by this point. I wanted to punch her so bad, but Mark had a hold of me before I could. And to make matters worse when I turned around I saw Roger holding onto Joanne. I grabbed my coat and headed for the door; I was out of there.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

We had finally made it back to the apartment. It wasn't easy, handling a drunk pissed off Maureen. The entire way home she was either cussing about Eden or Roger. I just let her rant though, better than having to deal with her going off on me too. We didn't need something else to be apologizing and getting over the next morning. I got her back into the bedroom and started helping her to change her clothes. Of course she started making some passes at me, then she'd apologize remembering what she had promised. However, she was quickly passed out on the bed.

I wasn't quite tired yet, so I went in the living room and called everyone to let them know that we had made it home ok. I had actually spent more time talking to everyone than I had imagined, so by the time I got finished with all the phone calls I was wore out. I made my way back to the bedroom and curled up underneath the covers; Maureen still completely passed out.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

I woke up, rolled over to reveal that Maureen wasn't there. When I looked over at the clock I realized that it was only 4 o'clock. Where in the hell could she be? I got up and made my way into the hallway. I could see the glow from the TV coming from the living room. I quietly walked down the hallway and stopped so that Maureen couldn't see me, but I could see what she was watching on TV.

It was a movie Mark had made for us a few months ago. I'm not really sure why he had made it though. He just gave it to us one day when we were over at Roger and his place. Said that he was just going through some footage and put this together for us. The video was random footage of Maureen and I; when we didn't realize anyone was watching us. There were clips of us at the Life together, at the loft, the park, Maureen's protests and even Angel's funeral. We looked completely happy and in love in every clip. My favorite clips though were the ones that Mark had captured of one of us looking at the other one when we didn't realize it. The video ended with Maureen sitting on my lap at the Life, us sharing a kiss then Maureen realizing Mark was taping us and reaching up and grabbing the camera.

"I love that video," I quietly said as I walked into the living room.

She turned and looked over at me, wiping some tears from her face, "how long were you standing there?"

"Just long enough to watch some of the video. You ok?" I sat down on the other end of the couch. Why can't I just sit near her, why was I so nervous and scared?

"Joanne I want us to be like that again," her voice pleading with me.

"I want that too Maureen. But I'm just not ready for that intimate part of our relationship to come back full force yet. Part of me, for some reason, is still scared."

She looked completely defeated sitting there looking at me. "I love you Joanne and if that is what you need, then that is what I'll do. Just promise me that you aren't going to leave me?"

"Never Maureen," I had never been more serious. "Come on let's go back to bed, you need some sleep." I let out a little laugh, hoping to lighten the mood.

She stood up and followed me back down the hallway. We both climbed into bed, still completely not touching one another. I laid there for awhile thinking about what all had happened recently. And thinking of how great Maureen was trying to be through this recent tragedy. She was trying so hard and I knew it. And I knew she was scared to death, I was too though. But we had each other and we loved each other so I truly thought we would be ok. Then, without even realizing it at first, I slid my foot over in the bed until I felt her foot against mine. She intertwined her foot around mine. I smiled and fell asleep; I hadn't slept that good in weeks.

**Alright, so how was it? I'll try to update again soon. Please review! Oh and from one fanfic author to another, can some of you other ones write some MoJo fics...ones that don't include Mark. There's my begging for the night. Thanks for reading! Oh and by the way, there really is this great Italian restaurant in Union Square if you are ever in NYC.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks again as always for the reviews! This ch. is a little shorter than the last couple have been. Hope you like it though. **

(Joanne's POV)

Even though I didn't set an alarm last night, I still woke up around the same time I do every morning to get ready to go to work. I rolled over to see Maureen still sound asleep, not a surprising sight at all. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful laying there asleep. I just laid there and watched her sleep for awhile. She was being so great through all of this, even if she didn't think so herself. I know she doesn't think she is helping me but she's helping me so much just by understanding and attempting to her best; which is completely enough for me. I so much wanted to reach over and wrap my arms around her and just hold her. But I couldn't. Something inside of me was holding me back from doing so. I understand that I was almost raped and that surely would instill some fear into anyone, but this was my girlfriend, someone I truly loved and have never been threatened by. I keep telling myself just to give myself time and it will go away, but I'm starting to wonder now if that is logical. Will this scared, timid attitude of mine ever really go away? Will Maureen and I ever really get to have the relationship we had before all of this happened? I just laid there, starring at her, rerunning these questions through my mind. I loved her so much and I hated seeing her in pain, no matter the cause of it. She had her pain to deal with, now the pain of trying to help me; our lives were so messed up right now. I reached over and gently ran my hand down her soft curly dark hair. A small grin slowly crept across her face. Her eyes never opened though. After laying there for quite sometime I went ahead and got out of bed.

I had decided to go ahead and start a pot of coffee. After last night I figured Maureen might like a cup or two this morning. I went ahead and poured a cup for myself, grabbed a blanket from the couch, wrapped it around me and went out on the fire escape. The morning air was crisp; the sky clear blue…it was a beautiful New York morning. From inside I could hear our phone ringing and ran back inside hoping to answer it before it woke Maureen up.

"Hello," my voice cracked from having not spoken yet this morning.

"Hello, Joanne is that you?"

"Yes it's me dad. What do you want?" It was early and I really wasn't in the mood to talk about anything having to do with the firm. I figured that was why he had called, I was wrong though.

"They found Steve last night." Ever since my encounter with Steve he had been missing. I'm sure hiding out knowing that he was in a heap of trouble. "He's in jail right now. Judge Andrews called me and told me that they would not being releasing him on bond either, flight risk you know."

"Well that's good," I was completely relieved to hear this. I had figured since it was a lawyer they would actually go ahead and post bond. "So when is the hearing?"

"They haven't set a date yet for it. I just wanted you to know that they found him and he's in jail now. Sweetie you don't have to worry because I'm going to make sure he stays there too." My dad was very protective of me. I was his only daughter, so it was only natural for him to be so protective. I could hear my mom in the background mumbling and bitching about something. It wouldn't surprise me if it was something to do with it being unfair how they weren't setting bond for Steve.

"Thanks daddy. Let me know when you hear anything else please."

"Of course sweetie. You tell Maureen I said hello and thank her for taking care of my baby for me." Unlike my mom, my dad had always liked Maureen. _As long as you are happy_ is what he always told me; and I think he knew that Maureen did truly make me happy, so he was happy. We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone returning out to the fire escape. This time I took the phone with me so that I wouldn't have to go running back in after it if it rang again.

Sure enough about ten minutes later the phone was ringing once again. When I answered the phone I was completely shocked to hear Roger's voice on the other end. It was only about 8 in the morning and Roger was awake and awake enough to make a phone call. This was totally out of character for Roger. However, he said that he was calling of course to see how I was doing; figured the earlier he called the less likely it was for Maureen to be awake and potentially get pissed. He also wanted to call and let me know that he was going to take Mimi out for her birthday tonight and wanted all of us to come with them. There was this little bar that he wanted all of us to go to, he said around ten and of course I told him that Maureen and I would be there. We talked a little while longer, pretty much about nothing, before hanging up.

"Care if I join you?" I turned around to surprisingly enough see Maureen making her way out on the fire escape.

"I'd love if you did."

She made her way out and went and stood away from me. I'm sure this was a conscious effort due to her promise she had made me. I could see her body shaking from the cold. Only thing she had on was what she wore to bed; a pair of boxers and my NYU t-shirt. I could tell she was trying to hide the fact of how cold she was.

"Come here," I quietly told her as I opened up the blanket.

I could see the question in her eyes, "are you sure?"

"Just come here. It's too cold to be standing out here without a blanket." It was surprising to even me that I was saying this. It had been so hard for me lately to even let her touch me in any way, now we are wrapped up in a blanket together on the fire escape.

She slowly walked over to me and moved into the blanket. I wrapped my arm around her, draping the blanket around her. She was standing there making an effort not to cuddle her body to close into mine. But without even thinking about it, I pulled her body closer into mine. She latched her arms around my waist, her head resting on my shoulder. This was nice.

"My dad called earlier he said hello and thanks." I was trying to ease my way into the topic of Steve.

"Thanks, for what?"

"For taking care of me," I squeezed her a little tighter.

"Is that all he called for?" She knew that even though my dad loved me and didn't object to our relationship, he typically only called for business reasons.

"Well," I paused for awhile gathering the courage to bring up the topic, "they found Steve last night, they have him in jail. No bond."

"Good, I hope he rots in there." I could tell that the mention of him had made her pissed off. She hadn't moved though, I'm glad she didn't. I wasn't sure once I let go of her when I'd be able to hold her like that again. Even though we were holding onto each other now, I could still feel the nervousness inside of me.

"Also, Roger is taking Mimi out to the bar on 12th street tonight, he wants us to go. I told him we'd meet them there, hope you don't mind." I never really thought she would, but then again she has really been into this just the two of us thing lately.

"Well no I guess that's fine." I could tell she'd rather not, but there she was again trying to help me, knowing that this was something I wanted to do.

"Thanks baby," after saying this to her I smiled realizing that it was the first time I had called her baby since this happened to me. Maybe everything was going to be ok.

She must of realized that I had finally called her baby again too because her head was soon off of my shoulder and she was gazing into my eyes. She then leaned over and kissed me. I tried, but I couldn't. I quickly pulled away and went back inside. I left her standing outside with the blanket alone. She must of stayed out there for about ten or fifteen minutes before she came back inside. Thankfully though she didn't even mention what had happened. I think she just understood. I knew though that this was getting hard for her, it was getting hard for me too.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Maureen and I pretty much just sat around the apartment. We watched a movie and some television. We talked some, but not about anything that had happened recently. Just about life in general I guess. We also pulled out some old photos and looked at them. That may have been my favorite part of the day. We were curled up beside each other on the couch looking at photos from our past couple of years together. Maureen would occasionally find ones she thought everyone needed to see, so she'd pull them out laying them aside. It was a nice day we got to spend together. Never did our lips meet or our hands wonder over one another's body, but it was nice to just sit with her, talk to her, and hear her laugh again. It was just what I needed.

We eventually got ready, heading out the door to grab some dinner before going and finding something for Mimi's birthday and heading over to the party. I'm sure this was going to prove to be one memorable night.

**Ok so how was it...let me know what you thought. As always I'll try to post the next ch. asap. Trying to make it more on the funny side...a lot of drama and tension going on lately, figure I might lighten up the fic a little with the next ch. After all it is Mimi's birthday. Please review...thanks for reading!**


	22. Chapter 22

**This is by far the longest ch. in this fic.Thanks again for the reviews. And I realize that Joanne has been hesitant now for a while with Maureen, but I just don't want her to all of a sudden be ok with it. Enjoy!**

(Maureen's POV)

"Hey guys over here!" Mimi was standing up in her chair on the other end of the bar waving her hands around. It was obvious she's already started celebrating without us; Roger had to catch her as she lost her balance and nearly fell off of the chair.

Again Joanne and I were the last to arrive. Everyone was huddled around a table near the back of the bar; drinks in each of their hands. Mimi was obviously already drunk and it was apparent that Eden was quickly on her way. I went ahead to the bar to order drinks for Joanne and myself, while Joanne made her way over to the group.

The bar was packed tonight, people everywhere. It took me about five or ten minutes to make my way to the bar, get our drinks, and make it over to my friends. Joanne was sitting next to Eden, laughing about some story she was telling her. I walked over to them and set down beside Joanne handing her drink to her.

Soon a drunk Mimi was pouncing on my lap. "Hey honey. You finally made it," her breath reeked of alcohol, I wonder how many she has had already, "I think we should do a shot together," her eyes lit up at what she considered a brilliant plan. "What do you want?" It was like a kid in a candy store. "How about…" I could almost see the wheels in her head turning considering what she wanted. And being that she worked at the CatScratch she knew like every drink possible. "A buttery nipple, that's what we need!" Her excitement was almost too much. But it was her birthday and who I am to say no to a shot.

Roger bravely made his way up to the bar to get our shots; Mimi bouncing around all of us taking swigs from everyone else's drinks while she waited for hers. When Roger made it back finally, Mimi was again on my lap handing me my shot. We took them, she kissed me, and then was again on her feet dancing around.

"Hey Joanne you better watch out for Mimi, she just kissed your girl," Collins laughed at how funny he thought he was being and downed another beer. Joanne looked up from her conversation with Eden and looked over at Mimi who was now giving Mark a lap dance.

"I think Eden is the one who needs to worry," she chuckled as she pointed over at Mimi and Mark. Eden too was now laughing; probably at how scared Mark looked at the moment. Joanne looked over at me and smiled. I think she could tell that I was slightly feeling left out at the moment. Ever since we had gotten there she had been talking to Eden. She reached her arm around me and pulled me closer to her. I looked over to see Roger looking at us, he just smiled at me and went back to watching some crazy dance Mimi was now performing on the table.

The festivities continued, everyone's goal to get as drunk as possible I think. I had completely lost count of how many shots Mimi had thought up for all of us to try. I had taken about ten shots with her by now and I don't think we have taken the same one twice. Personal note don't ever take liquid cocaine again, ouch that was harsh.

Collins had passed out in his chair by now. About twelve empty beer bottles and some shot glasses sitting around him. Even though he had passed out this didn't stop a very drunk Mimi from dancing on him occasionally. She just kept repeating _everyone gets a turn no matter if they are awake or not._ And everyone did; well everyone except for Joanne. Even in her drunk state I think Mimi knew that giving Joanne a lap dance my not be the greatest thing right now. When Mimi would pass by Joanne without dancing for her, Joanne would smile at her and mouth _thank you_ to her. I'm glad that Mimi would pass her up, first off because of how timid Joanne has been towards anyone touching her lately and plus if Mimi would have danced on her like that and Joanne wouldn't have been fidgeting then I might have got a little angry or jealous myself.

Mimi had finally made her way back over to me yet again and this time the lap dance got a little friendlier. Joanne kept eyeing me; I think to see what my response was to Mimi. I was a good girlfriend though; I played along a little just enough to get people to laugh at the scene, but nothing too much. Well until Mimi leaned over and starting making out with me.

Joanne was quickly pulling Mimi away from my lips, "hey now watch it that's my girlfriend you are making out with there," I could tell she was being half serious, but she was trying to say it like she was joking and really didn't care; she cared though I could tell. Which made me happy. It's not like she was mad, maybe just a little jealous. She grabbed a hold of me and pulled me out from underneath Mimi and right onto her lap. Mimi walked off in a huff back over to Mark; she knew that out of all of us Mark would get the most embarrassed so she found it funniest to torture him.

When Joanne had pulled me over onto her lap I caught this glare that Eden was shooting me. I wasn't sure why she hated me so much. It's not like I liked her either, but damn this chick really didn't like me for some reason. I think Joanne could feel the tension between us and the uneasiness that had come over my body.

"Are you ok?" She looked over up at me and whispered to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I was trying to convince her of this. She seemed to be enjoying herself and I knew that if she knew I wasn't having a good time or wasn't feeling ok that she would want to leave. I did want to stay though, but I wanted to be around Joanne but I didn't want to be around Eden. Joanne returned to her conversation with Eden, but holding me a little tighter now. She was trying so hard and I loved her for it.

Collins had rejoined the living, but was bent over the toilet emptying out the contents of his stomach. Roger would occasionally go and check on him, coming back out with the most disgusted look on his face. Finally Collins came back over to the table with yet another beer he had stopped over at the bar and bought.

"Hey man, weren't you just throwing up?" Mark questioned him as he saw Collins drinking again.

"Just had to clear out some room; ready for round two now." Collins let out this devilish laugh as he began chugging yet another beer.

"Do they ever come up for air?" I looked over to see what Mark was talking about. Mimi was straddling Roger in his chair; they'd been making out for quite some time now. "Hey you two…get a room!" Mark shoved Roger in the shoulder; neither Roger nor Mimi looked appreciative of the interruption.

"You're just jealous cause your girlfriend has been talking to Joanne all night," Mimi shot off. She was probably right though, I knew I was. Mimi found this quite funny when Mark didn't respond and was soon again on her feet dancing. This time though she pulled Collins to his feet dancing around the bar with her. Two drunk ass people dancing, what a sight.

"Hey baby I'm going to get something else to drink, you want something?" I had been out of something to drink for awhile now and couldn't take just sitting in silence only getting to speak a few words to Joanne every now and then.

She looked down to her glass realizing that she too was holding an empty glass. "Oh yeah that would be great. You have money?"

"Yeah, don't worry I got it." I stood up and walked through the maze of people to make my way up to the bar. While I was standing there I felt an arm reach around my shoulder.

"Not having much fun are you?" Mark was obviously not enjoying himself too much either. I could see the absolute boredom on his face right now.

"No, it's fine." Who am I kidding? Even though I was glad to be out celebrating Mimi's birthday with her, I still would rather be other places right now.

"Come on Maureen, it's me. Joanne has totally been ignoring you for the most part and it's killing you. It's killing you even more that she's been nonstop talking to Eden." He was giving me that _you're not fooling me_ look. "I hate that you two don't get along Maureen."

The bartender handed me my change then and I just scuffed, "it's not my fault," as I grabbed a hold of our drinks and walked back over to the table. I walked back over to find that only Joanne and Eden were sitting at the table. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Oh Mimi and Collins are still somewhere dancing," Joanne's eyes were wondering the place looking for them, "and Roger saw some guy he knew and went over to talk to him." She grabbed the drink from my hand, took a large gulp of it, "thanks baby." I sat down beside her preparing myself to yet again sit in silence. But almost as soon as I sat down beside her, Joanne's hand was rubbing the top of my leg. Since she initiated it, I felt as though she was giving me permission to cuddle up a little closer, so I did. I reached my arm around her waist, my hand resting on her hip and laid my head on her shoulder.

Of course though I didn't get to enjoy that long because here came Mimi again with shots in her hands. "Hey girls, look what I have." She was waving around the shot glasses, causing a little bit of the alcohol to pour out of them. This time she had gotten four shots, one for each of the girls she said.

"What is this?" Eden was questioning whether or not she wanted to take this one, especially after she smelled how strong the alcohol was in it.

"It's called a four horseman," Mimi got this little devilish grin on her face, I too was now worried. "Just take it." She lifted her shot glass in the air so we could toast before shooting them. "Here's to my birthday," she looked over to Eden, apparently we all had to make our own toasts.

"To my new friends"

Oh it's my turn…think, "To life"

"To Maureen," Joanne turned and faced me, raising her shot glass to me.

Each of us took this horrid shot, I can safely say the strongest drink we'd had all night. I'm pretty sure that it is just four straight liquors, I surprised none of us gagged after taking it. But what happened after we took our shots surprised me even more. Joanne leaned over towards me and kissed me. And it wasn't one of these little pecks either, it was a deep sensual kiss, the first one we'd shared in days. As she pulled away from me moments later she whispered, "thank you," in my ear. I could feel tears coming on, I hated getting emotional drunk.

After a few awes could be heard from our friends Mimi was on the table, apparently she had an announcement to make. "Guys I have a great idea," she was smiling from ear to ear, giggling at the thought of her idea, "let's go back to Roger's." This was the great idea. We all kind of looked at each other wondering why this was such a great idea, we are always getting drunk in the loft. "Please, please, it's MY birthday." One thing I've learned is that you never argue with a drunk birthday girl. So we all quickly finished our drinks and headed back to the loft to continue the celebration.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

After a very entertaining subway ride, we finally made it back to the loft. I think Mark was the only fully sober one of the group, poor guy. As soon as we walked into the loft Mimi was grabbing cups and the vodka and whiskey bottles. This can't be good.

"Who wants some?" Like any of us had a choice. She was pouring all seven of us glasses before any of us had a chance to respond. "Ok now everyone sit down, we are going to play a game." You could hear almost everyone grumble at the idea of playing a drinking game. But for some reason drunk Mimi loved playing drinking games. We all sat down in somewhat of a circle. Collins, Eden, and Mark managed to scurry to the couch and squeeze in together. Roger claimed the seat for him, which Mimi joined him on. This left Joanne and me with the floor. I sat down first, this way she could sit as far or close to me as she wanted to. Joanne came over and sat down right beside me laying her head over on my shoulder. Of course I quickly had my arm around her holding her as close to me as I could.

"What is it?" Roger reluctantly asked. He knew that if he wasn't cooperative he wouldn't be having any type of fun later tonight.

"It's called never ever have I ever." She seemed completely ecstatic about the idea of playing this game. "Everyone takes a turn saying something they have never done, if you have done that you have to drink."

"Mark is still going to be sober as sober gets after this, that's not fair," Roger laughed as he looked over at Mark who didn't find it as funny.

"Let's just get this over with," Mark was not thrilled at all about this game. With our group it wasn't going to be someone getting made fun of for doing something, it was going to be someone getting made fun of for not doing something.

"I'll start, I'll start." Mimi was way too excited for this. "Never ever have I ever," she scanned the room trying to figure out what to say, "had sex with a girl." She laughed purposively looking at Joanne and me.

"Cheers," Joanne lifted her glass to me and we toasted before we had to drink.

"Roger your turn."

"Oh Mimi do I have to?" It was very obvious Roger did not want to be playing this game.

"Please baby," Mimi was leaning over close to him, rubbing this leg and nibbling his ear.

"Fine then. Never ever have I ever slept with a guy," he gave Mimi a little smirk thinking he had out smarted her on this one. This time when Joanne drank she wasn't as open about the fact that she had to.

Collins was next and wouldn't he be the one to come up with a question that started an in-depth conversation. "Never ever have I ever had sex in a public place." He smiled proud of his question looking around the room to see who all would drink. Roger, Mimi, Joanne, and I were the only ones to drink. "Details, details."

Mimi was quickly telling everyone how Roger and her had sex just last week in the bathroom of Duane Reede and about how just not a month ago in the dressing room of Macys. "It's not like we can afford anything in there, but we were in the mood and thought that would be a fun place to try." She started laughing reaching over and kissing Roger; Collins soon was throwing a pillow at them.

"Ok Maureen what about you? I know you have to have a million stories for us." Everyone except for myself and Joanne chuckled at the statement. I resented the statement and I'm sure Joanne didn't want to hear me tell everyone about it.

"Well…." I was trying to think of the last time Joanne and I had sex in public. I hadn't with anyone else since before I was with Mark…he was never into that sort of thing.

"About three weeks ago," I hear Joanne pipe up, "in the elevator of our building." She looked over to me smiling and winked at me.

"The elevator," Eden was in total shock I think, "must have been quick."

"Well the elevator broke while we were in there, so what else you going to do to pass the time?" I was in total shock that Joanne was openly telling people about this; I liked it though.

Our game continued on for a while longer; some people coming up with some crazy questions. And of course it always helped when you knew something crazy someone did because you could just say that knowing that would out their little "secret".

However, Eden, who was totally wasted, decided to push the envelope a little far when her turn finally came around one time. "Never ever have I ever cheated on my boyfriend," she paused looking straight at me before adding, "or girlfriend." Everyone froze, no one spoke a word. Joanne's face dropped; she had been having such a great time laughing and smiling, then Eden has to ask this, what a bitch. "No one?" I could see her eyes staring right at me.

"Hey Eden," Mark was quietly trying to get her to just let it go.

"No, that's ok," I started. I glared over to Eden, pissed off look covering my face, "But just to set the record straight I've never cheated on Joanne if that's what you were wondering," I reached over and touched Joanne's knee as I took a swig of my vodka. Yes, I'd cheated on Mark, but never Joanne. If she was trying to make it look like I had cheated on Joanne, I wasn't going to let her have the satisfaction. And how dare she anyway, Joanne was suppose to be one of her best friends and here she goes and asks a question like that. Joanne looked up at me and grinned; placing her hand on top of mine.

Our game continued a little while longer until almost everyone was passed out except for Collins and myself. Even Mark amazingly enough had gotten drunk and passed out on the couch with Eden. Roger and Mimi were curled up together on the seat and Joanne was passed out on the floor.

"Well hey Collins I'm going to get her home," I was ready to pass out myself and really didn't want the both of us sleeping on this cold hard floor; I'd rather be in our big soft warm bed.

"You going to be ok?"

"Yeah, sure no problem." I bent over and woke Joanne up, helping her to her feet. She stumbled around a bit on her own before she let me take a hold of her to help her. Everyone else looked comfortable enough and Collins made his way to Mark's old room and went to bed.

We made it back to our apartment with no problems. Joanne probably won't remember leaving Roger's and coming back here because I basically carried her most of the way home. When we got back to the apartment each of us changed; her changing in the bathroom, me changing in the bedroom. We each crawled in on our sides of the bed and she was quickly out again. Tonight felt like we made some progress, maybe not too much but you have to start somewhere I guess. I laid there for awhile running my hands threw her hair, watching her sleep until I too eventually passed out.

**Ok so how was it? The next ch. you'll find out why Eden isn't so fond of Maureen. Any ideas or something you'd like to see more or less of, let me know. I'll be more than willing to try to incorporate it in. Please review! Thanks for reading!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Well first off...the last ch. is dedicated to my friends (particularly the drinking game and the four horseman). Second of all, thank you guys for the reviews. I love you guys, you all are way too nice...but I'm not complaining, I'm glad you are liking this fic. So like I promised this ch. explains why Eden doesn't like Maureen. Enjoy!**

(Maureen's POV)

"Good morning sunshine," I laughed as I saw a very hung over Joanne walk into the living room. Her eyes are bloodshot, face is flushed, and she can still barely walk; she looks beautiful. "Weren't you just the 'life of the party' last night?" I laughed at the look I got from her.

"What time is it?" She collapsed into the chair covering her eyes with her hands. "I feel like shit." She mumbled under her breath. It was becoming very hard not to laugh at the sight of Joanne hung over.

"It's about eleven," she looked up at me in astonishment that she had actually slept that long. I'm not sure that Joanne had slept in that long since she was a kid. Out of pure amusement for myself I couldn't help but ask her, "Do you remember anything about last night? You were pretty drunk by the time we came back here."

I caught the evil eye for that. "Does it look like I'm in any state to have remembered most of last night?" She looked like she was in complete agony sitting over there. "Is there any coffee?"

"Yeah, made some when I heard you stirring around in the bedroom; figured you might like some," I was trying to contain my laughter; however not doing a very good job at it. It was usually me that was hung over with Joanne trying to contain her amusement; it was nice for the roles to be reversed for once.

"Thanks," she slowly made her way across the apartment to the kitchen. The phone started ringing as she passed it, which made her jump grabbing her chest; yet another funny moment.

"Hello," she sounded pitiful. "When?...Yeah I could probably do that...Yeah I'm fine, it's no problem…I'll meet you there then." She hung up the phone glaring back over at me. It was obvious she really didn't want to do whatever she had just agreed to do.

"That was Mimi," she grumbled, "she wants me to go with her to her doctor's appointment." She just leaned over against the wall; looking completely defeated, last night had kicked her ass and she was paying for it this morning.

"Baby I can go instead, stay here and get some rest." I got up and walked over towards her; she looked like she could die and Mimi is wanting her to go out. It didn't seem to me that there would be a big deal with me going instead of Joanne.

"No, that's ok I can go, but thanks," she rubbed my back as she walked past me. "I'm going to go get a shower."

* * *

(Maureen's POV) 

Joanne had got ready in record time and was out the door to meet up with Mimi. We didn't even get a chance to talk to one another about last night. I was hoping to since she hadn't been so timid about us touching and for the fact that she kissed me for the first time since it happened. I needed to know if it was her actually ready and ok with it or if it was the alcohol. Hopefully though Mimi wouldn't keep her out long and she'd be home soon.

I sat around for awhile, completely bored out of my mind. I tried anything and everything I could think of to entertain myself and not constantly think about everything going on between Joanne and me lately. I hadn't really got a chance to talk to anyone about how all of this was affecting me and it was driving me crazy. That sounds completely selfish I know, but I just needed to talk to some one. Typically, I'd talk to Joanne about stuff like this, but since the reason I needed to talk was her I figured she might not be the best person to turn to right now. So I got ready and headed out the door to go talk to Mark, he was always good at this just listening thing. He was supposed to be home today and Eden was supposed to be working.

* * *

(Maureen's POV) 

"Oh hey," I was shocked at who had opened the door. It was Eden. "Is Mark here?" My voice had gotten slightly shaky; Eden made me nervous when we would somehow be around each other, just the two of us.

"No he went out shooting for the afternoon. You need something?" She stood just inside the apartment holding herself up by the door. It was obvious she was just attempting to be polite to me. Even though her voice sounded genuine, her eyes were saying something completely different.

"Umm, well," she interrupted me before I could say anything else.

"Just come in Maureen," she moved to the side, waving her arm inside the apartment. They had a nice quaint apartment, very inviting surprisingly enough. I'm not sure I'd ever really been inside their place. "Have a seat in the living room, I'll be right there." She was talking in her businesswoman voice; like she was preparing to interview me for a job.

I walked over into the living room and was somewhat shocked to see all the pictures they had set up. It fit Mark's personality, but I'm not real sure how well that it fit Eden's. I started walking around looking at all of them. There were pictures of people I figured to be Eden's family and friends which I quickly skimmed over. Then I spotted a bookcase on the other end of the room filled with pictures of our little family. The ones of Angel almost made me cry, the ones of Joanne and me almost made me cry. I picked up a particular picture of the two of us that was taken at New Year's last year. I just stood there and stared at it…

"I love that picture," I jumped at the sound of Eden's voice standing behind me. "You guys look so happy." What was this Eden was being nice to me. She was always nice to everyone else, just not me. I couldn't help but wonder what she was up to; maybe Mark had a talk with her after last night. "Want some tea?" She reached out a glass to me and walked to sit down on the chair.

"Hey Eden," I nervously walked over and joined her. "Why don't you like me?" I was being blunt as possible. I was tired of all the glares and comments. Plus, I wanted to get past this little high school drama of ours. She didn't speak for awhile which made me even more nervous. I couldn't look at her; for some reason I was scared to hear the answer.

She took a deep breath before she started. "Well Maureen, no one knows this…well maybe you do….but I actually knew Joanne before I met Mark."

"What?" I was completely confused; I had never heard this from anyone. Joanne just had a bunch of people popping up from her past lately didn't she? "How'd you know each other?" I had come very attentive now; scared and anxious to hear her answer.

"Well," she paused looking over at a picture of Joanne, "maybe I should let Joanne tell you." She stood up and started to walk out of the room.

"No wait," I too was on my feet trying to stop her. "Just tell me please." She turned around looking me straight in the eyes. "Please Eden." I must have sounded so pathetic. I needed to know now and I was ready to beg her if it came to that.

She walked back over and sat back down in her seat. Her face immediately looking down to the floor. "You have to let me finish before you say anything," her eyes shot up at me. "Cause let's face it Maureen I know how dramatic you can be, so you have to let me finish first." She was being so serious, yet another good reason for the knots in my stomach.

"Promise," her asking me this made me even more uneasy to hear the news. I settled back into the couch, grabbing a pillow so that I could have something to hold onto. My nerves had taken over.

She then started to tell me how her and my girlfriend knew each other and why none of us knew. "About two months before I met Mark I was out at this bar in the village. I was there alone, drinking the stresses of my day away. I hadn't been there too long when Joanne showed up and sat down beside me at the bar. I could tell she had been crying about something. When I questioned her about she said that her and her girlfriend had just got in a fight…"

My mind was quickly trying to come up with why we would have been fighting around that time. Oh yes I remember now…she had been working a lot around then and we for some reason were fighting over it.

"I bought her a drink and we sat and talked for a while. She's was just so easy to talk to and I'd really been having a rough time then. We talked about my problems and hers," she looked up at me when she said that, "she told me about how her girlfriend was difficult sometimes and how much of a drama queen she could be at times. And then how she used to always wonder if she was cheating on her, but then how lately it hadn't even crossed her mind. And then how self absorbed she could be. She wasn't exactly painting a pretty picture of you." Hearing all of this I started to cry. I was trying to hold it in as much as possible; I didn't want Eden seeing me like this. "She was pretty drunk by then Maureen," I guess she could tell how upset this was making me.

"Ok so Eden, big deal you guys talked one night in a bar," I was wiping tears from my cheek. "Why couldn't you guys just tell us that?"

"Cause it didn't really end there Maureen." Her voice had gotten very quiet now. Again she was staring at the floor. My heart was pounding; do I really want to hear what happened next? "I couldn't see how someone as great as Joanne could put up with this girlfriend of hers….she looked like she was so hurt….so I invited her to come back to my place."

Pain and hurt rushed through every part of my body. My heart was literally hurting now. My hands and legs had begun to shake. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the couch. Only thing I could think was how could Joanne cheat on me. The thought was literally making me ill. "Did she cheat on me?" I was still leaning back, my eyes closed preparing myself for what Eden was going to say. This was easily the most vulnerable I had ever felt in front of Eden.

"Well when we got back to my place we sat down and continued talking about how screwed up each of us thought our lives were at the moment." She suddenly stopped talking. I looked up at her and I could tell she was gathering the courage to continue telling me the story. "Then I kissed her." My heart sunk. "I felt safe with her so I leaned over and pressed my lips passionately against hers…"

"No, No," I was on my feet storming over to the window. "I don't need to hear how you kissed her. How your mouths passionately met one another's and how magical it was for you." Tears were flowing freely down my cheeks. She remained in her seat, quiet as ever. "Well go ahead, finish telling me what happened." My eyes were gazing down to the streets below, listening to one of the hardest things I have ever heard.

"Maureen I know this can't be easy to hear," she was trying to be sympathetic now.

"No fuck it's not easy to hear," my tone was rather harsh, but I'm pissed off.

"Well, I pushed her down on the couch, laying my body on top of hers," _oh Joanne how could you_, "I started to take her shirt off, but she stopped me." I took some what of a sigh of relief. "She pushed me off of her and told me she couldn't. Said that she had a girlfriend that she loved and she couldn't be doing this to her. I completely didn't understand why not. I felt she deserved so much better than you and I thought that could possibly be me."

I turned back around to see Eden softly crying into her hands. "So then what?" I became very curious about how Joanne handled the situation. Ok so maybe if Joanne just kissed her, maybe I can deal with that…my anger at Joanne was cooling off somewhat now.

"We talked a little bit more about you mainly. She tried explaining to me even though you completely drove her crazy sometimes that she did love you and you loved her and she just couldn't live with herself if she would ever hurt you." Eden was up on her feet pacing the floor. "I still didn't understand though, why she would put up with it."

"So she tells you she has a girlfriend, whom she loves and that she's obviously not interested in you, so now what?" I was almost amazed at how insane Eden was sounding to me right now. She was an intelligent person, yet she couldn't understand all of this.

"Well she ended up staying here that night. I kissed her once more as I went to go to bed, but nothing like our first kiss." I was feeling so many different emotions right now. I was angry that Joanne never told me this and that she had kissed someone else while we were dating. But then I was happy that Joanne stopped anything serious from happening. I was hurt. "When I woke up the next morning she was gone."

"Cause she went home to her girlfriend, where she should have been to begin with," I took a very angry tone with Eden.

"There's more if you want to hear it."

"More?" If Joanne did anything else with her, even have dinner I was going to hurt someone.

"Well she had left her cell phone here, so she called to get it back. And…before she came back over I got her phone number off of it." Is she kidding me here? "I really felt that if she didn't have this girlfriend that she'd give us a chance…she seemed so great."

"She is great"

"Well, I called her occasionally trying to get her to at least meet me so we could talk, she never would though. Kept telling me she had a girlfriend that she loved and she couldn't." For the fact that Joanne was refusing to meet up with her because of me made me smile; made me slightly less upset with her. "Then I met Mark about a month after the last time I had called Joanne. I thought he was just what I needed. Then I found out he was friends with Joanne and when I saw her again for the first time in about month or so, the same feelings I had that night came back. Then I met you and all the hate and jealousy that I felt towards you came back. And it didn't help that once Mark and I started dating he told me that you cheated on him a few times. That just made me more suspicious about how faithful you were towards Joanne. And Joanne deserves the best; I've never felt like the best for her was you."

One thing had begun to bother me even more now. If Joanne knew that Eden had feelings for her like this, why was she so friendly with her now? "But you guys are friends now right, nothing else?"

"Nothing has happened, or even come close to happening since we met again." I took a heavy sigh of relief. "Joanne told me once we met again that if I tried to convince her of leaving you that we couldn't be around one another whatsoever. I promised I wouldn't; I had met Mark and I really liked him."

I was literally nauseas as I spoke again, "Do you still have feelings for her?"

"Oh no," she seemed like this was surprising me asking her this, "she's my friend and that is as far as I want it to go. I love Mark."

We both sat in silence for a while. I wasn't really sure what to say to her. First I was in total shock that Eden was bisexual; something I would have never suspected. So all along the reason she hated me was that she was jealous because I was with Joanne and she didn't think I treated Joanne right; that Joanne deserved someone better than me. Well hell hasn't she seen how patient I've been with Joanne lately and how much I'm attempting to help her. And I make Joanne happy, couldn't Eden see that. I love Joanne; I thought that was pretty apparent.

I didn't know what to say to Eden so I just wiped the tears away, grabbed my stuff and left the apartment. Now what am I going to do? Do I ask Joanne about all of this, do I let it go because Joanne had stopped it from going anywhere too serious…but she did kiss her and that hurt. This is so messed up; I'm completely thrown by hearing all of this.

By the time I had made it back to the apartment I still wasn't sure what I was going to do about all of this. I loved her and completely trusted her, but I didn't want to hide the fact that I knew about this. I took a deep breath before reaching down to open the door, preparing myself for what was to come. I pushed the door open to reveal a candlelit apartment with rose pedals lying in just all the right places.

**So what do you think? Good enough reason? I thought from the last ch. reviews some of you were going to figure me out. I really didn't know what the reason was for a while then this idea popped in my head and I couldn't get it out. Oh and anyone know where 'life of the party' comes from? Bonus points if you know :) Please review! Thanks for reading!**


	24. Chapter 24

**First off...CONGRAT SHOUT OUTS TO ELISE, AUBURNMISTRESS, and ELPHABAGLINDA who knew where "Life of the Party" came from in the last ch.For the ones of you who don't know...shame on you, lol..."Life of the Party"comes from the off-Broadway production of "The Wild Party". It is a song in the show which is sung by the very talented Ms. Idina Menzel; she plays the character of Kate. I highly recommend you find it and listen to it! **

**Now for my fic. Here's the next ch. obviously. Thanks for everyone who reviewed the last ch. I'm glad that the reason was a surprise to some of you...that's what I was hoping for. Enjoy!**

(Joanne's POV)

I was standing in the kitchen pouring wine into some glasses when I heard the front door open. For some reason I got nervous; I could see the wine bottle shaking in my hand. This was it; I was going to sit Maureen down tell her how much I really appreciate her and love her, then show her just how much. I took a deep breath, grabbed the wine glasses, and walked out to greet Maureen.

"Hi baby," the sight of her made me smile. However, from the look on her face I quickly realized that she wasn't having a good day. "What's wrong?" I sat the glasses down and walked over to her. I had figured when she walked into our apartment with it looking like this that she wouldn't be able to contain her excitement; but if she was happy right now she was doing a good job at covering it up. She looked tired, emotionally tired. She hadn't taken her eyes off of me once since I walked into the room. I could always tell so much about how Maureen was feeling or thinking by just looking into her eyes; right now I could see the hurt, questions, and anger she was holding inside.

When I reached her I began rubbing her shoulders again asking her what was wrong. I didn't get a response though. She basically collapsed into my arms, sobbing. Where was this coming from? What had happened to her today? All day I had been excited, nervous, and anxious for tonight. I thought this was going to be one of the best nights of my life…not just because of the sex, but for the fact that I thought that after tonight we would be the old Joanne and Maureen again…something was telling me right now that my evening was not going to go as planned.

I held her in my arms, her sobbing into my shoulder, as I walked her over to the couch. I gently lifted her head off of me, looking her straight in the eyes. Her eyes telling me that something was truly bothering her right now. "Maureen what is wrong?" I was becoming worried now of what could possibly be wrong.

She sniffled a little bit before being able to speak to me. "It's beautiful Joanne," she gazed around looking at the decorated apartment. "I love it…I love you." She looked back over at me, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Maureen, that's not all." It was very apparent to me she was hiding something from me right now. These tears were not that of happy tears. "Something happened; what?" My nerves had caused my voice to become shaky; lately no good news had happened so why should this news be any different. "Please just tell me baby," I reached over rubbing the top of her leg, trying to get her to open up to me.

"I talked to Eden today," her voice was very somber. She was again looking up at me, "she told me Joanne." This confused me even more. What could Eden of told her that would make her this upset. Eden was always saying something to Maureen, but it had never caused to become as upset as she seemed now.

"What did she say to you?" I was almost angry at Eden. Lately Eden had seemed to be pushing Maureen's buttons as much as possible. And to make Maureen this upset, she most of really let into her. I've always known that Eden didn't like Maureen even before Eden had joined our little family….oh shit, she wouldn't have.

"She told me about you and her." My heart stopped. I froze; I didn't know what to say. Eden and I had agreed never to tell anyone…especially Maureen and Mark….about the two of us knowing each other before she met Mark. I just felt it best for everyone if no one knew. We were both drunk that night and then eventually I was able to convince Eden I wasn't leaving Maureen…so nothing came of it, end of story…or so I thought.

"Look Maureen, nothing happened," the hurt in her eyes was very evident. I reached over and put my hand against her cheek, softly rubbing her cheek with my fingers. "I was upset that night. I got drunk and she was there. I know that's not an excuse, but…" my words trailed off as I could feel her warm tears hitting my hand. Why would Eden have to tell her this now…at a time like this. Why didn't I just tell her about it when it happened? The pain that I was trying to spare her at the time was now being put on her at the most difficult time of our relationship. This is why I never told her because I knew how upset it would make her. And I never wanted to be the cause of any type of pain or hurt that Maureen was feeling.

"Joanne just tell me why?" I hated seeing her hurt like this and it was worse knowing that I had caused it.

I released her face my touch, tightly grabbing hold of her hand. "I was hurt and I was mad at you. I shouldn't have gone back to her place, I know I shouldn't have…but I did. And I never should have…kissed her." When I said this her body hunched over and I could hear the crying get stronger. Her body was trembling underneath my touch. "Baby I promise," I lifted her face up to look into my eyes, "I only kissed her that was it. And I know that's bad enough, but I stopped it from going anywhere. As soon as I realized what was going on I stopped it. Maureen I love you." She smiled a little hearing me say this and nodded her head.

"I know you do…and I love you too." She reached over and placed her other hand over top of our already adjoining hands. "Ok so I get that you kissed her and that you stopped it, which I'm glad to know. And Eden told me how you even refused to meet her afterwards and everything, but why are friends with her now?" This was a good question; a question I had expected her to ask me. A question that I had asked myself many times once Eden started dating Mark.

"Well when I first met her as Mark's girlfriend we had a talk one evening. I explained that if she would try to persuade me that you weren't good enough or anything that I couldn't be around her at all. She told me she was sorry for how she had acted and that she just wanted to be friends. I just couldn't tell her that we couldn't be friends; I actually get along with her as friends. I think Eden just needed a friend; even back when we first met." She just sat there; staring at me. I could tell processing everything she had just heard. I wish she would just say something so I knew what she was thinking right now. I'm praying that she doesn't leave me now because of this. I need her more than anything now; she has to forgive me.

"Pookie," she pouted her lips, "is she a better kisser than me?" A little sheepish grin came over her face.

I smiled knowing this meant she was feeling better about what she had found out. "No one even compares to you." I leaned over towards her and pulled her closer, our lips meeting for the first time in what seemed like forever…at least while we were sober. Her lips were just as soft and tender as I remembered. Our kiss was so intense, so passionate; I held her as tight as I could, never wanting to let her go. However, realizing that there were so many more things I needed to say to her.

"Baby," I pulled away from the tight grasp she too had on me, "I need to talk to you about something else before we go any further here." I sat up staring at her; trying to be serious. We had to talk about everything that had happened lately. We really hadn't got a chance too. And if we were going to get back to where we were before Steve happened, we had to talk about things.

"Ok, what is it?" She seemed much happier now from when she first walked into the apartment earlier. She lay down on the couch, resting her head in my lap. Her eyes gazed up at me; she had the most intense, beautiful eyes that I had ever seen. I started running my hair threw her massive curls; it always relaxed me for some reason to play with her hair.

"I just wanted to tell you how much I truly appreciate how patient you have been with me lately. And I know it couldn't have been easy with you still trying to get over Steve beating you up. Thank you so much Maureen, I love you so much for that. I don't think I could have made it through this without you." Saying this all aloud to her, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. She has meant so much to me, especially recently and I just wanted her to know how much I do really need her and love her. I was finding it hard for once in my life to come up with just the right words to express what I was thinking, what I was feeling.

"You would have done the same thing. I would have waited as long as I had to wait for you. I would do anything I had to do to keep you with me." She smiled up at me with that little seductive smile of hers…this was the old Maureen coming out of her, the flirty and horny Maureen…but I loved her still, I loved every aspect of this woman. "I wanted to be there, I always do."

I smiled back down at this woman who is truly beautiful, inside and out. Someone who honestly loved me and who I wanted in my life always. "When we have to go through this whole court ordeal with Steve, I want us to be able to openly talk about it. I don't want you to be afraid to say something to me thinking I may break. Because as long as I have you Maureen I'll never break." I felt a stray tear begin to fall from my eye.

"I promise. But you have to promise me the same thing. If you feel scared or hurt whatever you have to come talk to me. I want to be here for you and I want you to be there for me. I wouldn't want anyone else by my side through this." Her flirty attitude had diminished and she had become very serious in these moments. "I couldn't imagine my life without you…you keep me sane and protected; and make me feel more loved and wanted than I have ever felt before in my entire life."

"I love you," I pushed away the hair that had been covering part of her face revealing this beautiful face smiling up at me from my lap. She was glowing, she looked truly happy.

She sat up and straddled me on the couch; our faces only inches from one another's. "I love you too," she whispered to me. I wrapped my arms around her waist pulling her body as close to mine as possible. It had been such a long time since I had felt her touch and that she felt mine. Our lips again met in a passionate embrace. This feels so real, so true…so right.

And just as always we were interrupted…don't people have anyone else to bother. Except for this time it wasn't the telephone which we could have easily ignored; it was a pounding at the door. We could hear someone screaming from the hallway, "Joanne, open up please, it's Eden."

**So, your opinions/comments/suggestions please. I'm not real sure right now where I'm taking this fic. I have so many ideas I just don't know. So I await your reviews to figure it out. So the quicker I receive reviews, the quicker I write the next ch., the quicker you guys get to read the next ch. Don't forget go check out Idina singing "Life of the Party". Thanks for reading!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Once again thanks so very much for all the great reviews...very gracious ones from the last ch., glad you are enjoying this fic so much! I think I got the most reviews for any ch. with the last one. This is yet another long ch...switches POVs a few times. Oh and I'm glad to hear that so many of you enjoy Idina's singing outside of Rent...that makes me happy, I don't know why but it does. Anyhow,enjoy!**

(Joanne's POV)

_Oh no, of all people why must it be her at our door. Doesn't she realize this probably isn't the smartest place for her to be right now? _I look up at Maureen rolling her eyes. She hasn't moved off of my lap and her warm hands are still against the bare skin of my back. To say the least she does not look happy right now. Then again another round of pounding at the door followed by Eden yelling for me.

"You have to be fucking kidding me," Maureen furiously spouts off as she pulls her body off of me. She storms over to the front door to let Eden in; mumbling something the entire way that I could not make out.

She swings open the door to reveal Eden looking rather panicked. "Oh Maureen," by the shock in her voice and expression it wasapparent seeingMaureen answer the door surprised her. "Is Joanne here?" Her voice much softer, thankfully, than it was just moments ago. Maureen just pointed over at me sitting on the couch; Eden taking that as Maureen's way of inviting her into the apartment.

As she walked over into our living room, she got a rather surprised and embarrassed look on her face. "Oh sorry did I interrupt something?" I think the fact that I was still trying to straighten my ruffled clothes caused by Maureen's roaming hands may have tipped her off that we were in the middle of something.

"Actually yes you did," I heard Maureen sarcastically say as she walked past her to come join me over on the couch.

"Umm…" I stared over at Maureen trying to get her to calm down just by giving her a look. I don't know if that was going to be enough, she just shrugged her shoulders at me and sat down beside me immediately wrapping her arm around me. I'm sure her way of staking her territory.

"Come on in Eden, have a seat." I was trying to be as nice as possible; hopefully making up for how rude Maureen was being towards her at the moment. _Can I blame her though? _I pointed over to an empty chair and watched as Eden nervously made her way into the living room. "What's the big emergency?"

"Well," she paused making notice of Maureen's hand rubbing up and down my thigh and her occasional kisses on my neck. She snapped herself back into reality, looking back at me and continuing her story. "I told Mark about….well you know," she was now apparently wanting to play serenades, pointing back and forth from me to her; it wasn't hard to figure out what she was trying to say without having to saying it aloud. "About us," she got really quiet when she said this; I think hopefully thinking that Maureen wouldn't hear her say it. She did though; I was sure of it because her hands became a little friendlier towards me.

"Well Eden, what are you doing here then?" I was rather confused. I'd figure that she'd want to be with Mark and not with Maureen and me, her presence wasn't really making much sense to me right now.

"I thought maybe Mark came here. Because when I told him this evening he stormed out of the apartment all pissed off and upset." This statement caused Maureen to stop; now becoming interested in what was going on. "I don't know where he went," she had started crying now. Being that she was my friend I wanted to get up and go over and hug her; try to comfort her in some way. But knowing what all had happened today I figured that might not be in my best interest as far as Maureen is concerned.

"Did you call Mimi or Roger?" Maureen actually had said something to her; and not in a rude or sarcastic fashion. Even though Mark and Maureen hadn't been quite as close lately, I knew she still really cared about Mark. She told me once that Mark was like her big brother. "Or even Collins?"

"They didn't answer," her tears were more frequent now; her voice shaky.

"Let's just go over there. If he's not there at least Roger and Mimi can help us find him, they have to be around there somewhere." I got off the couch and went to quickly grab Maureen and my coats from the bedroom. I was praying all the while that Maureen wouldn't say something to her. Thankfully when I returned it didn't seem that she did; didn't seem they had spoke at all which actually may be better. I found them both by the front door looking rather impatient for my return.

We each bundled up to head out into the cold New York City night. This was so not what I had planned for tonight…this outright sucks quite frankly. After I locked the front door, Maureen grabbed tightly to my hand and lightly kissed my lips. Eden was walking in front of us; so obviously not being able to see us. I think she did cause she loves me; I couldn't help but smile.

* * *

(Joanne's POV) 

"Roger…Mimi…anyone…you guys home?" We all three were screaming down from the street below trying to get someone's attention.

Finally Roger appeared out on the fire escape, "what's going on?" Apparently we too had just interrupted them. He was standing there in boxers and a t-shirt; not typically attire for him to just be wearing around the loft.

"Just throw us the keys, its cold out here." Maureen's body was shivering against mine; with good right though, it was freezing out tonight.

Roger went back in and quickly returned throwing us his keys. We were quickly running in the apartment and up the stairs. Not that it was going to be much warmer in their place, but it had to beat standing outside. Mimi was standing in the door way, holding the loft door open for us when we arrived at the top floor.

"What's wrong you guys?" She was questioning us before we even had made it into the loft. She sounded worried, yet a little peeved at the interruption; I completely understood where she was coming from.

"Is Mark here? Have you heard from him?" Eden was frantically rambling on. Maureen of course was rolling her eyes as she made her way over to sit down on the almost completely broken couch. Mimi was quickly joining her on it, trying to get the story out of Maureen.

"Calm down Eden," Roger was grabbing hold of her shoulders attempting to calm her in some way, "what's wrong with Mark?"

"Well, you see…" she was glancing back and forth from Maureen and me. I'm not sure why she was so nervous to tell them for. She should have been more nervous to tell Maureen not Roger and Mimi.

I soon heard Maureen filling them in on the story. "Eden and Joanne knew each other before she met Mark," her tone rather harsh.

"So? Why would Mark be upset about that?" Mimi was looking at me with this confused look on her face. This same confused look had come over Roger's face as well.

"Cause they kissed each other and Eden tried to get Joanne to leave me." Maureen was saying all of this so nonchalantly is was almost scary. She wasn't even looking at anyone rather playing with her fingernails while she said it.

I think Roger almost choked from shock and I think Mimi quit breathing. Both of them slowly turned their heads towards me; their eyes widened with their jaws on the ground. I was speechless; what do you say.

"So that's why Mark is mad?" Roger was nodding his head in approval of Mark's state of anger. "Well let's go see if we can find Mark….then will figure out this whole crazy mess." Roger was clearly trying to avoid making Maureen any more agitated at the situation. "Collins is asleep in Mark's old room, I'll go wake him. I'm sure he'll go with us to look for him." Roger slowly walked passed me to wake Collins; giving me a sly grin as he walked by.

Soon thereafter, Roger and Collins were emerging from the bedroom. Apparently Roger had filled Collins in on what he had just learned because when Collins walked by me he nudged me with his elbow and I heard a soft, "Joanne Jefferson," as he walked by.

"So now what? Where do we go?" Eden was pacing the floor; rightfully worried about Mark. "Let's split up and look for him. Some people can stay here incase he would decide to come here to talk to Roger…cause that's a good chance right Roger?" she didn't even give him a chance to respond. "So where should we look?" She was rambling on so fast that no one could even understand her.

Collins walked over to her, capturing her in his grasp. "Calm down Eden we'll find him ok." He was trying to be calm and rational; typical Collins. He looked over at Mimi and Maureen sitting on the couch, looking like they could almost fall asleep. "So Mimi, how about you and Maureen stay here in case he does show up here." Neither of them seemed to mind the idea of not having to go search for Mark out in the cold.

"That's good," Eden chimed in. "And then Roger and you can go look some places and Joanne and I can." Roger, Collins, and I all froze, staring at each other in disbelief of what Eden had just suggested. I was afraid to look over at Maureen.

Quickly though I was speaking up, "well how about I go with Roger and you go with Collins. That way we will each have one of the guys with us because it might not be good if you and I find Mark together." I looked over at Maureen who mouthed me a _thank you _from the couch. I smiled back at her and sent her a long distance kiss.

Eden realizing just how ridiculous her idea must have sounded quickly fumbled out the words, "ok yeah whatever, let's just go."

So with that the four of us bundled back up to head out in search of Mark. While I was waiting on Roger and Collins to get ready I walked over to the couch, pulling Maureen to her feet. "Let's go outside real quick to talk." I led her out onto the fire escape closing the window behind us.

She had taken her jacket off already so I opened mine up inviting her inside to hopefully warm her up. Plus, it was nice to feel her body against mine again. She wrapped her arms around my waist holding on for dear life. I was rubbing my hands up and down her back in attempts to keep her somewhat warm. She laid her head on my chest, resting it right below my chin; I could hear her teeth chattering.

"Maureen," I softly began saying, "I just wanted to say sorry that this evening didn't turn out like I, or we, had planned. I promise I will make it up to you somehow. Tomorrow just us, all day ok; I'm completely yours."

She looked up at me smiling, "I'm going to hold you to that you know?" She leaned towards me; her lips making contact with my neck once or twice before reaching my lips. The kiss warmed my entire body, must have Maureen's as well because both of our bodies stopped shaking.

"Get a room," I looked over realizing that Roger was pounding on the window, laughing, motioning for me to come on. We let go of one another and walked back into the room; Mimi smiling from ear to ear at us. "Come on love bird number one, we gotta go." I gave Maureen one last small kiss and headed out the door with Roger, Collins, and Eden to find Mark.

* * *

(Maureen's POV) 

So all four of them headed out to go in search of Mark. The way I see it New York City is a big place, he'll probably find them before they find him. Mark running out like that really didn't surprise me too much though; I completely understood where he was coming from. And I'm sure it made it worse for him because now a second girlfriend of his was telling him that she was attracted to women….can't be good for a man's ego.

"So Maureen," Mimi was curled up in a little ball on the couch. I was preparing myself for like a million questions and comments to come rambling out of her little body. So I walked over to the couch and sat at the other end, staring at her, awaiting her questions. "What is up with Joanne and Eden?" I could hear the slightest bit of confusion in her voice.

"Well they knew each other before Eden met Mark." I said it very matter of fact.

"I got thought," she rolled her eyes at me, apparently not happy with my lack of detail. "Like what happened with all of that?"

I took a deep breath before I started. I'd rather not have to relive it all by telling Mimi, but she was one of my best friends and she'd find out sooner or later all the details anyway, so why not it be me who tells her. So I just started rambling out the story. "About two months before Eden met Mark, she met Joanne at a bar. Joanne and I had a fight and she had run out of the apartment. They started talking about what was happening with them both and apparently Joanne kept on about how difficult and dramatic I can be," Mimi shrugged her shoulders obviously agreeing with Joanne, I just ignored it and went on. "So Eden took her back to her place with her and after a while, Eden kissed her." I looked away from Mimi now, "it wasn't just a friendly kiss either. The way Eden explained it she was on top of Joanne trying to take her shirt off." Tears were beginning to well up in my eyes at the thought of this happening; trying to keep the mental picture of another woman on top of my girlfriend out of my head. I was trying to hold the tears back, but finding it very difficult.

Mimi must have realized how bad it was bothering me; she reached over and took hold of my hand. "Maureen, you don't have to tell me anymore, I'm sorry." Her voice was very tender and sweet; I felt very lucky to have Mimi in my life.

I wiped away a tear that had managed to escape, "no that's ok. Joanne stopped it from going any further," I heard Mimi take a sigh of relief, "she told Eden that she loved me and couldn't hurt me like that."

Mimi was now rubbing my shoulder, trying to calm me down; the tears escaping from my eyes more frequently now. "That should tell you that she really does love you, you know? Even though she did kiss her, she did stop it Maureen…and she stopped it because of you."

"Yeah I know. I'm not mad at her now, if that's what you are thinking." And truthfully I'm not. She was mine and I wasn't letting her go; I loved her too much. "Joanne ended up staying there that night, but leaving before Eden woke up. But then Eden started calling Joanne trying to get her to leave me," that bitch, saying it aloud made me even more pissed off at Eden.

"Wow," Mimi was in complete shock, "So everything is ok with you and Joanne though right?"

"Yea," for the first time since Mimi and I started talking about this I smiled.

"Good, because I love you guys and you two are just way too cute together," we both started giggling like school girls. "I've seen you two when you guys don't think anyone else is watching…too cute…and sweet." The giggling continued between the two of us, like we were little school girls talking about our crushes.

"You think?" I wasn't doubting Mimi's statements; I just wanted to hear over and over how cute and sweet Joanne and I were together.

"I've seen the way you two look at each other even when the other one isn't noticing," Mimi had a huge smile on her face, truly happy for the two of us. "You've got something special with that one Maureen."

"I sure do," a slow grin crept across my face from the thought of her and me together.

Mimi and I sat and continued talking. Mainly being all girly girls together. We talked about everything and anything we could think of. Occasionally my mind would wonder off to Mark and if anyone had found him yet or where he may be. I hope they find him soon.

* * *

(Eden's POV) 

"Collins where else could he be?" We had looked almost anywhere I could think of that he may have gone. We'd been to his favorite places to shoot footage to random little diners he likes to hang out in. Still no sign of him. I had called Joanne on her cell phone a few times and they weren't having any luck either. I've made such a mess of things. I never wanted to hurt anyone; not Joanne, not Mark, not even Maureen…but I have.

"Hey Eden," Collins face lit up with an idea, "how about the park where you and Mark met?" I'm actually surprised I hadn't thought of this. Mark was always the romantic and sentimental type with me; made complete sense to me that he could be there.

"Well let's go." I grabbed hold of Collins' hand and we raced to the subway station to get to the park.

As we neared the park, I could see Mark sitting on a bench. He was messing with his camera, not shooting anything, just tinkering with it. I could see even at a distance his body shaking in the cold. I can't believe I've hurt him like this; he doesn't deserve it.

I took a deep breath and walked over to him leaving Collins behind. This needed to be just me and Mark talking; no one else. As I neared him he looked up to see who was approaching him. He didn't look all that happy to see it was me. He didn't even speak to me, just went back to his camera.

I sat down beside him, looking at the ground; ashamed of what I have done. "Mark," I was being so quiet that I wasn't even sure if he could hear me. "Look I'm sorry. I don't know what else to tell you but that I'm sorry. It was before I met you. It's not like I cheated on you or even wanted to. After I met you, Joanne was never again someone I wanted to date; no one was." He just sat there, silent. He hadn't even looked over in my general direction. Since he wasn't talking, I figured I'd continue; at least he was listening, or at least I thought he was. "I love you Mark. I should have told you…"

I was cut off by Mark finally speaking, "yea you should have." Surprisingly his tone was soft, not harsh at all like I was expecting. "Why didn't you tell me?" He finally looked over up at me. I could see streaks down his cheeks where tears had previously been.

"Cause Joanne and I thought it would be best if no one ever knew. Nothing came of it, so why make a big deal out of it." We sat there a few moments longer, in complete silence.

He finally got up off the bench. To my surprise he reached down and took hold of my hand, linking his fingers in between mine. "Come on let's go home." He was actually forgiving me without too much resistance. I smiled and held tightly to his hand. We walked back over to meet Collins, who too was smiling seeing our hands linked together.

"Hey you should probably call Joanne and Roger, tell them we found him." I'm glad Collins had said something, I'd forgot about them out looking for Mark too. I called them and told them that we had found him and that Mark and I were headed back home and that Collins was going back to Roger's.

* * *

(Maureen's POV) 

Finally after about two hours after they left, Collins returned to the loft. Eden wasn't with him; a good sign that they had found Mark and that they had made up.

"So where did you find him?" Mimi asked.

"At the park that he met Eden at," Collins was taking off his coat and joined us. He looked exhausted.

"Where are Roger and Joanne?" Mimi was just filled with questions.

"Oh yeah right," apparently there was something Collins was suppose to tell us. "When we found Mark, we called to them. They were over by Joanne and Maureen's so Joanne told me to tell you," of course he was now looking in my direction, "to catch a cab and come home. That she was just going to go back to your alls place since they were already over that way." Collins reached into his pocket and handed me some money, "here Mark gave me this to give you for the cab. Joanne said she'd payhim back tomorrow."

I took the cash, bundled up, said my goodbyes and headed out the door. I'm glad that everything was ok with Mark, but my evening had sure been shot by all this drama.

* * *

(Maureen's POV) 

I made it back to the apartment; it was about midnight or so by now. Joanne had this whole romantic evening planned out for the two of us and we hadn't got to enjoy any of it. Thinking about it just made me more upset. Oh well, tomorrow she's all mine, that's what she told me and I'm holding her to it.

When I walked into the apartment I found Joanne curled up in the chair asleep. She looked so cute and peaceful sleeping there. But there was no way that I was leaving her there. We hadn't got to really sleep in the same bed for quite sometime. Sure we'd both slept in the bed, but not touching whatsoever; the bed might as well been empty.

I stood there for a little while, just watching her sleep. Finally, I gently shook her and kissed her forehead trying to wake her up. She squirmed a little, mumbling something. I continued shaking her and kissing her trying to wake her up; she could be so hard to wake up sometimes.

"Oh sorry baby, I was trying to stay awake, guess it didn't work," she finally mumbled as she woke up.

"That's ok, let's just go to bed." I reached down and helped her up. Immediately her arm going around my waist and her head resting on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and walked her down the hall to our bedroom.

We both got ready for bed and climbed in and for the first time in what seemed like forever she curled her body up against mine. She intertwined her legs between mine, laying her shoulder on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her; my hand resting on her hip. She pushed my shirt up off my stomach resting her hand on my bare skin. She was lightly running her fingertips all across my stomach. I reached down and kissed her on the forehead; this was how it was always supposed to be.

"Goodnight my beautiful angel," and with that she was asleep in my arms.

**Good? Bad? What? Let me know please. And no this isn't the last ch. if that's what you are thinking...however I think it's getting close to the end for this one. Spoiler - next ch. is going to be Maureen/Joanne fluff :) Figure it is about time. So do you guys prefer these longer chs. like this one or would you like them shorter with _possibly_ quicker updates? Hopefully my next ch. will be up quicker than this one was...I have a few slow days coming up in my schedule so it's a possibility. Thanks for reading!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Thanks again for the reviews...probably the least amount of reviews I've gotten for a single ch. (with the exception of the first two chs.), but thanks to the ones who did review it. This one is longer than I thought it would be...pretty much the day with Joanne and Maureen...complete fluff. Just to let you know, there are like two paragraphs in this ch. that are more detailed about their sex-capades than I typically write...nothing graphic though. If this is going to offend you...skip over those paragraphs, it's not hard to figure out which two they are. Enjoy!**

(Maureen's POV)

The next morning I woke up still expecting to feel Joanne in my arms; but she wasn't. As I stretched out my arms and opened my eyes I realized she wasn't even in the bed. I just lay there for a while though, not wanting to move; wanting to just remember how wonderful it was last night to again have her sleeping in my arms. How it felt to have her head laying on me; how our legs so easily and comfortably intertwined; how it felt just to have her touching me once again and me touching her in return. This was going to be our last full day together; she was going back to work tomorrow. So not wanting to waste anymore time I quickly jumped out of bed and went searching for her.

As I opened the bedroom door I could hear some music coming from the kitchen. When I got closer I realized it was a Michael Jackson song, "The Way You Make Me Feel." As I turned the corner to the kitchen, there was Joanne at the stove, dancing along to the music. She was bobbing her head to the beat of the music, swinging her hips back and forth, occasionally singing along. I couldn't help but just stand there and watch her for a while, it was absolutely adorable.

"Not too bad Miss Jefferson," I jokingly laughed as I walked over towards her. She had quit dancing, seeming somewhat embarrassed that I had caught her. "Why did you stop?" I walked over behind her placing my hands on her hips moving her hips for her.

She started laughing, now beginning to move her hips on her own again. I moved in closer to her body now joining her in her little dance. She leaned her head back to me and kissed me, "good morning." Both of her hands were occupied at the moment from whatever she was cooking for us. So I just wrapped my arms tightly around her waist, resting my head on her shoulder as we continued swaying back and forth to the rhythm.

"So what do you want to do today?" she curiously asked me as the song ended. She had this little smirk her face knowing very well what I wanted to do today. It was very cute though her acting all innocent and naïve.

"Well," I let go of her hopping up on the counter across the kitchen, "I don't know….just maybe spend the day here together….doing well whatever," I was twirling my hair with my fingers, trying to appear as innocent and naïve as she was, yet flirty in the same sense.

She finished cooking the eggs, pouring them out onto a plate along with some bacon she had fixed. When she turned around to face me, she started laughing at how I was being all flirty and seductive. She walked over to me, standing in between my legs, resting her arms across my lap.

"Ok, that sounds fine, I have some work I can do, what are you going to do?" She was attempting to be sarcastic.

"Joanne," I playfully slapped her on her arm; that's not right teasing me like that. "I want to do stuff together," I was pouting.

She started giggling, wrapping her arms tightly around me. "Good cause I do too." I leaned my head down to her and quickly had my lips pressed against hers. They were so soft and moved in just the right way against mine. She soon was pulling me off the counter, holding me. My legs wrapped around her waist, our lips never loosing contact with one another's. She began walking out of the kitchen with me still attached to her body; we made it as far as the living room couch.

She lay me back onto the couch; her body lingering over top of mine. Her eyes were fierce with seduction and passion. My body quivers as I feel her lips against my neck. I arch my head back, revealing more of my neck to her; closing my eyes savoring every moment. I slid my arms up her back underneath of her shirt; lightly caressing her bare skin with my fingertips. I now too feel her hands running up my sides; pulling my shirt with her rising hands until she has it over my head throwing it onto the ground. Her lips then proceed downward to where she is kissing the warm skin of my chest. I let out a slight moan from the intense feelings that are rushing through my body. Quickly I pull her shirt off tossing it beside mine on the floor. She looks up into my eyes; one of the most beautiful moments that we will share today. She returns to kissing my lips so slowly and gently yet so passionate and eloquent. I can feel my heart pounding and my body warming from every touch, every kiss that happens. Her hands are gently running threw my hair; my hands roaming over her body. My hands were relearning every curve, every spot that I knew I could touch to make her let out the slightest moan. Her skin was just as smooth and soft as I could remember against my own. Her lips now again began downward to my bare stomach. She knew exactly how to use her mouth even against my stomach to make me feel satisfied. Soon thereafter, the rest of our clothes found their way onto the floor along with our shirts. My pulse was racing, my skin covered in sweat, I was panting at the shear touch of Joanne's body. She had caused me to reach complete ecstasy. I rolled her over, now lying on top of her returning every favor; my lips and hands caressing every part of her body. Our lips were again meeting in absolute passion and fire; not being able to keep our hands still from exploring every aspect of one another's body. I could hear her moaning from each touch; her body writhing underneath of mine. My body eventually collapsed onto Joanne; both of us panting from absolute pleasure. I could feel an occasional kiss on my bare shoulder but still neither of us could speak. We just laid there together, basking in the glow of one of the most beautiful acts of human nature that two people who truly love each other can share.

* * *

After a while of lying on the couch with one another in complete silence, our bodies still intertwined, we finally looked at one another. Both of us were smiling in the satisfaction of what we both had just felt and been able to allow the other one to feel. Joanne began to slowly rub my back; I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, savoring how perfect it felt. 

"You want those eggs?" She started sitting up pushing me up along with her. She kissed me as she bent over grabbing her pajama pants and t-shirt to put back on. I just grabbed my t-shirt to put back on, taking hold of her hand as she led me over to the kitchen.

We really weren't speaking; just enjoying the memory and excitement of what had just happened. While we each fixed our plates of course there were occasional kisses, squeezes, or slaps on the ass; but really no talking.

She went over and sat down at the table first. And instead of taking my own seat, I just sat on Joanne's lap. She didn't object to our seating arrangement at all. Instead she gladly embraced my body close to hers, her hand gently rubbing the inside of my thigh.

"I love you," she softly said in between bites of food.

"I love you too," I reached down to her gently pecking her on the lips, both of our mouths full with food. We finished eating in silence; occasionally glancing at one another smiling or sharing a quick kiss.

* * *

After we finished our breakfast we started cleaning up the kitchen. Even though she had only made eggs and bacon, Joanne sure did make a mess in here. I was rinsing off some dishes, while Joanne was putting everything else away in their proper places. She was standing over by the counter wiping it off, looking so innocent and vulnerable…so I decided to spray her with some water. 

She jumped, "hey!" She looked over at me glaring at me; I of course was laughing. When she turned back around, I sprayed her once again. "That's it Maureen Johnson." She headed over towards me so I started continually spraying her. She was now laughing and screaming at me all at once. I was laughing, that was until she took control over the sprayer now drenching me with water. There was water everyone and of course I was the one to slip. I grabbed hold of Joanne as I started falling, pulling her onto the floor with me. We both just lay there, laughing, completely drenched.

She was lying on her back, laughing so hard I thought she may pee her pants. I turned up on my side, propping myself up by my elbow. I reached over placing my arm across her stomach. She calmed her laughing when she noticed that I was watching her.

"I'm going to kill you Maureen," still with a laugh in her voice. Seeing her trying to hold it in and not doing a very good job at it, I couldn't help but laugh along with her. "Now I'm cold," she was pouting.

"Here let me help," I leaned over top of her kissing her once again. She pulled my body down closer against hers. And we laid there in the kitchen floor kissing, soaking wet, for about the next ten minutes.

* * *

We had finally gotten up and dried ourselves off; putting on warm dry clothes. When I came back into the living room I found Joanne sitting out on the fire escape wrapped up in a blanket. 

"What are you doing out here, its cold out today," my body was nearly shaking from just poking my head outside.

"It's nice out," she tilted her head back, closing her eyes, taking in what warmth the sun's rays were providing. "Come here," she lifted the blanket off of her motioning for me to come sit with her. So I climbed outside and went over to sit on her lap.

I curdled my body up in her lap resting my head on her shoulder. She had now wrapped the blanket around both of us in attempt to keep us at least somewhat warm. I wrapped my arms around her chest, snuggling closer into her body. "This is nice," my voice was quiet as if it was a meant for just her to hear.

"It is isn't it?" She seemed satisfied with the way I had described it. I could see a smile come over her face as she squeezed me tighter. "So anything special you want to go do today?"

I thought about for a minute, "No, I just want to be with you," that was the best thing that I could want out of today. "Whatever we do is fine with me." It was the truth, as long as I was with her, I was completely fine.

* * *

After we sat outside for a while longer, we decided to go back inside. It was getting quite cold and frankly I think we were both just tired of sitting out on the fire escape. We decided to just cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie…nice, sweet, yet romantic way to spend a few hours. 

When we walked back in I saw that we had some messages, we had turned off the ringer so that no one could spoil our day together. "Hey Joanne, we must be popular people."

"Why do you say that," I hear her asking me from the kitchen; she had gone to get us something to drink.

"We already have messages." I chuckled. I pushed play; just in case one of them was important. Joanne walked out of the kitchen pop in hand making her way over to pick out a movie while I stood and listened to messages.

_You have 3 new messages…_

_Message 1. Hello Joanne this is Katherine…_she's a secretary at the law firm…_was just calling to make sure that you were still returning to work tomorrow. If I don't hear from you I'll assume that you are and I will see you tomorrow. _

_Message 2. Hey guys its Mimi. Guess you guys are busy right now having a little fun together, can't say I blame you…_you can hear Roger laughing in the background…_just wanted to call and make sure everything was ok, apparently it is. I'll talk to you both tomorrow. Love ya._

_Message 3. Hi honey, its dad. I just wanted to check on you see how you were doing. Judge Andrews called me; Steve's hearing is going to be in two weeks. I'm hoping to call in some favors with him and hopefully the trial date won't be long after. I love you sweetheart. Tell Maureen I said hello._

As I walked into the living room, Joanne was still searching threw our collection of DVDs to find something to watch. I made my way over to the couch going ahead and snuggling underneath the blanket. "Did you hear the messages in here?" I sounded kind of sad; but I was having heard Katherine's call reminded me that Joanne would have to return to work tomorrow.

"Yeah, I heard them," she muttered. "How about 'Dazed and Confused', it's a funny one." I was kind of surprised Joanne had picked that out; she wasn't the biggest fan of that movie. But it was one of my favorites; she's too sweet.

"Sounds good," I told her a huge grin across my face. She stuck the movie in and was quickly snuggled underneath the blanket with me.

* * *

By the time the movie was over it was about four o'clock; Joanne had been asleep for nearly an hour now. So I slowly moved off of the couch, laying her head down and covering her with the blanket. I turned off the movie and went in search of something to keep myself busy. I had went over to a shelf where Joanne keeps some law books among other various reading materials; there's also a few photo albums sitting on it that she had organized. Of course I went for the photo albums. There were about four of them; so I grabbed each of them sitting down at the kitchen table to look through them all. The first one was filled with pictures of Joanne as a child and up through high school. Even though I didn't know Joanne at that point, I still loved looking at the pictures of her; especially when she was little, she was so cute. The other three albums were pictures of our little family; time progressing forward from picture to picture. Every picture holding a significant memory for me; some making me laugh, while others made me cry. Towards the end of the last album pictures of Eden started showing up; I flipped past them fairly quickly. I had now spent about thirty minutes or so looking at old pictures and still Joanne was asleep on the couch. What else can I do to amuse myself? 

I was quickly heading down the hall to the bathroom; I was looking for this particular shade of blue fingernail polish, I think Joanne would look lovely in it. When I found it I was soon back in the living room, sitting at the end of the couch, taking one of Joanne's feet in my hands. She was a heavy sleeper; this shouldn't wake her. I had almost got completely done with both of her feet when….

"What the hell are you doing?" I looked up to see a very drowsy Joanne staring at me.

"Painting your toenails," I chirped focusing my attention back to the task at hand.

"May I ask why?"

"I was bored and you were sleeping," still focusing on her toenails.

She sat up, bending her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs. "Why blue?" she asked as she rested her chin on her knees.

"Cause I like that color and I think it looks sexy on you," I looked up at her and winked and then leaned over pecking her on the lips. "Want to do mine next?"

"Sure, why not," she really didn't seem to care either way. "How long was I asleep?"

"Well it's almost five now." I was trying to sound disappointed at how much she had slept, but honestly I really didn't care all that much. It wasn't like she had slept too long, plus I would have been waking her up after I got finished with her toenails anyway.

"You should have woke me up," she reached over and brushed some of my hair away that had fallen across my face.

"That's ok." I looked up at her smiling, "all done. What do you think?"

She turned, stretching her legs out so that she could clearly view her newly painted toenails. "They look wonderful, thank you baby." She gave me a thank you kiss as she grabbed the polish from my hand, "your turn."

I stretched my legs out, resting my feet in her lap. "Their all yours," I leaned back getting comfortable, taking enjoyment in the fact that Joanne was actually painting my toenails. Surprisingly enough she was actually very skilled at this craft.

* * *

After we finished painting each other's nails we decided to just order in some pizza for dinner and finally have some of the wine Joanne had bought for us yesterday. Pizza and wine, sounded good to me. 

We sat on the floor, eating our pizza and drinking our wine. Joanne must have been quite thirsty because she was having her second glass of wine before she even finished with her first slice of pizza. She was getting all giggly and touchy feely, not that I was complaining.

"Oh do you remember," she had already begun laughing before even telling me what she was thinking about, "when you did that show about a year and a half ago and you fell off the stage," she was busting up laughing.

"You mean 'Kim and Kate'," it was an off-off Broadway workshop I had done, frankly it was terrible, "I didn't think you ever saw that one. We had broken up then…," we had got in this fight and in the heat of the moment, she told me to leave so I did. We were only apart for about two and a half weeks; we haven't broken up since. "I mean for the whole two weeks it ran," a sarcastic yet slightly disappointed tone in my voice from the show being such a complete flop. I was completely confused though about her even knowing about my mishap, I didn't think I had ever mentioned that to her.

"Yeah I saw it," her manner had calmed, "I saw it opening night…when you fell off the stage." She lifted her wine glass chugging the rest of what she had left.

"What?" I was extremely touched that she would come see me in a show when we weren't even together at that point. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. Guess it didn't matter to me that you knew, I knew." She again was pouring herself more wine, "I just wanted to see you doing what you love to do."

"I love you," I softly told her as I pushed the pizza box from between us, crawling over to her. I took her wine glass sitting it on the table and kissed her so genuinely and passionately that it sent chills through my body. "Baby that is so sweet," I was stroking her face with my hand.

"Maureen, it was nothing. I wanted to go." I think she was so drunk, she wasn't realizing just how much it meant to me that she supported me that much.

"Yeah it is something. No one else even came and saw the show. They quite frankly told me they didn't want to see it, didn't think it sounded any good."

"It wasn't," she said as she rolled her eyes and stood up off the floor. "But you were good." She walked over picking up the pizza box and wine bottle taking them to the kitchen to clean up. I just sat there in the floor watching her; truly realizing how much she really did support and love me. I don't understand sometimes what I did to deserve someone like Joanne.

* * *

It was now about ten and I could tell Joanne was wanting to go to bed soon; after all she had to be up around five thirty or six tomorrow morning. We were curled up on the couch watching some law show that Joanne liked. Well I should say that Joanne was watching it; I was playing with her hair. It had been such an amazing day with her; I didn't want it to end. For the first time in a long time we had got to spend the entire day just the two of us with no distractions; it was wonderful. 

When the show went off, Joanne grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. So I guess this was it, we were going to bed, our day had ended.

She twisted her body so that she was facing me, "I have to take a shower," she got this sneaky grin on her face, "want to join me?"

I didn't even answer her. I was immediately on my feet, grabbing her hand, dragging her into the bathroom. We had just barely made it inside the bathroom, when we were helping each other undress. Our lips only loosing contact from one another's body when clothing needed by. Earlier today, it had been more sensual, more intimate. This time it was raw and aggressive. We stumbled into the bathtub, turning on the shower; the cold water hitting our bodies causing us to flinch. Her hands were rapidly roaming across my body; my body shuddering from beneath her hands. My pulse had begun racing; my breathing heavier with every passing moment. I backed her up against the wall; thrusting my body as close to hers as possible. My hands now again were becoming familiar with every part of her body. I could hear the faint moans and feel as her body quivered from my touch.

After our shower was over, we walked back to the bedroom getting ready for bed. I was in complete bliss at the moment. Every time I would look at her I couldn't help but smile. At not only because we had just satisfied each other in ways that only we knew how, but because of how much I loved her and how lucky I knew I was to have her in my life. We climbed into bed and I was immediately snuggling up against her. She smiled at me, enveloping me into her arms.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too. Thanks for today baby." I reached up to her kissing her goodnight. Even though I was so happy to be with her right then, I was somewhat depressed knowing that I would probably wake up in the morning to an empty bed. But I decided not to let that bother me right now; I was going to live in this moment, lying in the arms of the woman I loved. I was with her right now and that was all that mattered.

**Ok so what did you think? Please let me know, I was kind of nervous about posting this ch. so any feedback would be great. Again not the last ch...the way I'm seeing it probablyfour more...probably not as long as the past few have been though. But I'll update as soon as I get the next ch. wrote. Thanks for reading!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Quick update this time. This is a rather short ch, especially compared to the last few. But I got home and was still pretty awake so I quickly wrote this ch out knowing it wouldn't be long anyway. So may not be all that great of a ch since I wrote it so quickly and late at night. Hope you like it anyway. Enjoy!**

(Maureen's POV)

Just as I expected I woke up to an empty bed. A feeling of loss came over me. I just lay in bed, sad and depressed. It's not like this is the first time I'd ever woke up alone in our bed; typically I did. But for some reason today was different. I couldn't dwell on it though; Joanne would be home eventually. I just needed to find something to do; to keep me busy so I didn't count down the minutes until she would be home.

I forced myself out of bed, immediately making my way to the bathroom. I had to brush my teeth and my bladder was ready to explode. When I walked into the bathroom I noticed that the mirror above the sink had red lipstick on it that read, "_I love you!" _Could she honestly be any sweeter? I just stood there, staring at it, somehow falling more in love with Joanne for it. Then I got one of my brilliant ideas; I hurried and got ready, I didn't have too much time.

* * *

(Joanne's POV) 

"_Yes Charles I know that…I have been working on it, practically all morning…I heard you the first thousand times…that's already taken care of…yes, I already did…stop worrying, bye."_

It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon and still I hadn't had one break all day long. I have been swamped by work ever since I stepped into my office this morning. I guess that's what I get for taking off so long, but I had good reasons and you'd think some people could have offered to help out. My desk was covered with stacks of forms and documents that needed to be reviewed or signed. And of course I have some very high profile cases to tend to; which causes more people to get frantic when they don't think matters are being addressed soon enough. I've got my shit together; things were moving along just fine.

I loved my job, most of the time, but today was too stressful. My phone was constantly ringing, people were continually stopping by, and if one more person tried to act as my therapist I was going to scream. I had a million things running through my mind; I needed a break. And then again without delay, my phone begins ringing.

"_Joanne Jefferson…yes…I have those ready…yes," _and now someone is knocking at the door, another visitor, great. "_Can you hold just a moment please Mrs. Wilson, thank you." _I then yelled that my door was open and that my visitor could come in. When they opened the door, I was delighted to see who it was. The biggest smile came across my face; the one person who could actually make me feel better, "_Mrs. Wilson, I'll have to call you back." _

"Baby, what are you doing here?" I was quickly on my feet walking over towards her, taking her in my arms and kissing her hello.

"I bought you lunch," she held up a plastic bag with containers of food inside. "Thought you might like a break, at least I was hoping so." She had this questionable look on her face; I loved when she stopped by but she knew it was hard for me sometimes to actually take a break.

"I'd love to have lunch with you right now," I grabbed the bag from her hand, grabbing hold of her other hand walking with her over to the couch I had in my office. "So what did you bring me?" I curiously opened the bag to see what concoction she had created.

"Its peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," I looked up at her, a smile plastered across her face.

"Thank you," I reached into the bag pulling them both out handing her one of them. "I'm glad you decided to come by, I missed you." I reached over rubbing the top of her leg. I had honestly not thought about just how much I would miss her once I went back to work until this morning when I got here.

"I missed you too," she replied as she wrapped her arm around my waist pulling me into another kiss. "What time should you be home?" she questioned as she pulled away, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"I don't know. I'm hoping no later than six thirty, but it'll depend on how much of that I can get done," I pointed over to the stacks of paper on my desk. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Mimi called me earlier today, said that she wanted to have a girls' night tomorrow night if we were up to it," I paused for a second, "you, me, her and Eden."

Maureen got this uneasy look on her face. I thought she was going to completely refuse to go because Eden would be there. "Do you want to go?" her voice a little weary.

"I'd like to," I didn't want to seem like I was begging or too anxious to go, because if she didn't want to go, then we wouldn't go but I thought it would be a lot of fun for all of us. And just maybe, help clear up the air between Maureen and Eden.

"Well," she was slightly hesitant, "yeah, I want to go then." She gave me a little grin and ate the last bite of her sandwich. After licking her fingers clean, and mine I might add, she told me she was leaving; going to let me get back to my work so that I could get home as early as possible. We had a long goodbye kiss, eventually realizing if she didn't leave, she may not. So she left and I got back into my hectic first day back.

* * *

(Eden's POV) 

"Mark? Where are you?" I had taken a phone call from Mimi in the bedroom; returning out to the living room to find Mark gone. I was now searching our apartment in an attempt to find where he had run off to. I finally noticed him sitting out on the fire escape; without his camera.

"Mark," I softly spoke to him as I opened the window to the fire escape.

He jumped, quickly turning to face me. "Oh," he didn't seem too thrilled to see me crawling out the window to join him out on the fire escape. He sat staring down to the busy streets below us. "I wonder if any of their lives are as screwed up as mine." He said this so blatantly that it caused my heart to drop.

"Mark Cohen," I said somewhat disappointed in how he could imagine such a thing, "what is so bad about your life?" I should have known better than to add that last bit in there.

"What?" he fired back at me. "Are you serious?" He was now facing me, staring me straight in the eyes; he looked completely shocked and angry at what I was asking. "I just found out last night that my girlfriend was once in love with another woman, and not just any other woman but the same woman that my previous girlfriend left me for. I think I'm entitled to think my life is just a little screwed up right now," his face was getting red; he did have a point though. He stormed back into the apartment, collapsing onto the couch.

"Mark listen," I screamed after him, "ok so yeah I did AT ONE POINT like Joanne, but I didn't know you then. And so what if it's the same woman Maureen left you for, what does it matter?" His eyes gazed upward to meet mine, looking more sad than angry now. "Mark," my voice softer now as I sat down beside him, placing my hand on his leg, "I love you. I don't want Joanne, I want you."

A look of realization came over his face, like this was news to him. "I love you too Eden," he wrapped his arms around me hugging me, "but why did you have to like Joanne?"

"Come on Mark, get serious." I pulled away from him again looking into his bright blue eyes, "Joanne is great, you know that; your friends with her remember?"

"I know, Joanne is great and blah blah blah, but it would have been easier if it would have been someone else." He kind of chuckled then leaned over and kissed me. "Ok so I need to go shoot some footage," he said as he got up grabbing his stuff, "shouldn't you be at work?"

"No, I have the day off."

"Ok. Well have fun today then. I'll probably be out late shooting today," he was opening the front door ready to head out when he turned back around to me, "want to do dinner tomorrow night though, just us?"

"That's what Mimi called about earlier. She wants us to have a girls' night tomorrow," I paused seeing his face drop, "her, me….Joanne and Maureen."

"Are you serious?" He was whining only to cover up the suspicion in his voice.

"Mark…."

He interrupted me from going any further, "I know. I'll talk to you later," and he walked out. I sure hope that he isn't going to become one of those jealous, overprotective boyfriends now anytime I want to spend time with Joanne.

* * *

(Roger's POV) 

"It's about time," I spouted to Mimi when I finally got through to her on the phone. "You've been on the phone all morning? What's going on?" I was half nervous and half pissed off.

"If you were so worried Mr. Davis you could have just come down here?" She's trying to be funny. I didn't say anything; I just sat there listening to her chuckle about how funny she thought she was being. "Roger come on. I was calling Joanne and Eden; inviting them and Maureen for a girls' night tomorrow."

"What? You are inviting Maureen and Eden to spend time together." Did she not understand how bad of an idea this was? I've known Maureen for quite sometime and this did not seem like a good idea to me whatsoever.

"Oh Roger, quit worrying. It'll be fine."

"Do you know the visiting hours to the jail?"

"Why?"

"Cause if I know Maureen that's where she'll be after she gets a hold of Eden tomorrow night."

**Ok so how bad (or good) was it? Please review it. Promise next ch will be more exciting. Oh and one reviewer from last ch pointed out some "connections" to RENT (besides the obvious characters, locations, and what not). There were 3 in the last ch. Thanks for reading!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Ok so I know it has been a few days now since I've posted, but I have good reason...writer's block. I really wasn't sure what I wanted to happen, but hopefully I came up with something you all like. It's longer than I had planned, but figured since I made you all wait, I'd make it another long ch. And again thanks for the reviews for last ch. Enjoy!**

(Maureen's POV)

It's about six o'clock on Friday evening and I'm pacing the apartment waiting on Joanne to get home from work. All day I have been dreading our girls' night tonight with Mimi and Eden. Only reason I even agreed to this was because I knew Joanne wanted to go; I definitely was not looking forward to this evening. Mimi had called me earlier today; she didn't really say much of what she had planned, I'm not sure she had anything specifically planned whatsoever except for us all going to the comedy club that we were meeting at. A friend of hers from the CatScratch was dating the bouncer and she got Mimi the tickets. I was so nervous about tonight; I really didn't want to get into it with Eden, but I knew it wouldn't take much for her to piss me off and then shit would hit the ceiling.

I walked back to the bedroom; figured I'd lay down for a while. Maybe take a quick nap; it would pass the time and hopefully get my mind off of this evening. But despite my best efforts I couldn't fall asleep. I had so much running threw my mind, I just laid there tossing and turning.

"Maureen…you here?" I heard Joanne's voice ringing throughout the apartment about thirty minutes later. "Maureen?"

I jumped out of bed, thankful she was finally home. I met her as she was coming down the hallway; her arms full with random things, I'm guessing work that she would have to catch up on this weekend.

"There you are," she gleefully said as she leaned over lightly kissing my lips.

I reached over grabbing some of the stuff out of her arms and carried it back to the bedroom. She put all of it away in exactly the right spots and then turned taking me in her arms; staring straight into my eyes. "Thank you baby for doing this tonight, I really appreciate it."

"Oh it's nothing," I was lying straight through my teeth.

"Maureen," she knew I was lying, I could tell by the tone in her voice. "I know you'd rather be doing a million other things than spending the evening with Eden."

"Well….that's true," I flirtatiously replied as I started running my hands down her back until they reached her ass.

She giggled, pulled me in closer to her body, and began kissing me. I was so happy that we were back to the way we used to be before Steve came into our lives. We both were completely happy and in love; I couldn't ask for more out of my life right now. "Come on baby if we don't leave we're going to be late," she muttered as she pulled away from me.

"Okay," my tone sounding rather disappointed; because I was, "this should be a fun night," I mumbled sarcastically as I gathered my things and headed out of the apartment with Joanne.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

The entire way to the comedy club I was basically pulling Maureen along. She was making it very obvious she didn't want to be there; which was starting to get annoying because she had agreed to this evening. However, I knew the only reason she had agreed was because of me, which totally made me even love her more somehow, so I couldn't be too mad at her.

When we made it to the comedy club, Mimi and Eden were waiting outside on us. When Maureen spotted them, she pulled me closer to her. I rolled my eyes at her, "be good," I mumbled to her. She just got a smirk on her face and kept a tight hold onto me. Then Mimi noticed us coming down the street and got this excited, giggly look on her face. Eden, on the other hand, looked quite uneasy standing there seeing us walk towards them.

"Yay, you're here," Mimi seemed like she was ready to burst from excitement. I don't know if she was trying to convince herself that nothing terribly wrong would happen tonight or if she was just that naïve. But anyway I played along, appearing to be just as excited as she was, hugging her as she bounced over towards me.

Everyone exchanged their hellos, even Eden and Maureen let out a faint hello to each other. "This is going to be so much fun," Mimi was acting like a little school girl being all giggly; I wonder if she's drunk already. "Come on let's go," she quickly turned and headed towards the front door. Maureen quickly grabbed my hand, gave me a quick peck on the lips and followed Mimi's lead. Eden gave me this little half grin as she followed in line behind me to enter the club. What have I got myself into?

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

I was glad that Mimi had decided that we'd first go to this comedy club. It was helping me get used to the idea of having to be around Eden this evening without having to deal with her at the moment. All four of us sat there, laughing our asses off at these comics. I was actually having a good time. I was around my girlfriend and one of my best friends, I couldn't ask for anything more. I was glad too that I was getting to see Joanne laughing and having a good time again. I loved her laugh and I've missed hearing it so much lately. Mimi was sitting beside Eden, literally in pain from laughing so much and ready to pee her pants I'm sure; the five Whiskey Sours she has had probably has something to do with that as well. And then there was Eden sitting across from me. I guess some part of me was glad that she was out with us tonight too. She was Mark's girlfriend and he really seemed to love her, so I guess I could try to like her, for Mark and Joanne I guess. But I was finding myself, shall I say marking my territory as far as Joanne was concerned. I don't think at any point throughout the show did I ever let go of Joanne. I was either holding her hand, had my arm around her, rubbing her leg, or sneaking in a few quick kisses.

By the time the show was over, we had a very drunk Mimi and Joanne on our hands. Since they were so drunk, we decided to just go back to Mimi's apartment and hang out there for the rest of the night. So on the way there we stopped by a liquor store and bought some liquor, not like Mimi or Joanne really needed it, but both were insisting we buy some, so we did. The entire way back to Mimi's place, Mimi and Joanne were dancing around the sidewalks, completely goofing off; leaving a very silent, awkward walk back for Eden and me who trailed behind.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

We finally made it back to Mimi's apartment. As soon as we walked in they both headed straight for the kitchen to get us all cups for the liquor. It was quite hilarious to see the two of them stumbling all over themselves, literally falling down a few times, and laughing their asses off at how funny they thought everything was, and I do mean everything.

Mimi and Joanne were nice enough to pour each of us a cup and bring it into the living room where Eden and I were sitting in absolute silence.

"Here you go baby," Joanne stumbled her way across the room over to the couch where I was sitting. She nearly collapsed on my lap, almost spilling both cups all over me. "Oops," she giggled realizing what she had almost done, "now that would have been a waste of damn good liquor."

"I'll drink to that," a drunk Mimi tipped back her cup taking a huge swig of her vodka. Mimi and Joanne were uncontrollably laughing; which was causing Eden and me to laugh as well. "Oh wait, wait," Mimi stood up off of the floor which she had fallen onto not but a few moments before. She had gotten completely serious, "I have an idea."

Bravely I asked, "what?"

"Let's play truth or dare!" Joanne and her were now literally jumping up and down at their excitement to play truth or dare.

"I hate truth or dare," Eden finally mumbled from the chair. "Anything else Mimi, please," she was begging her. You could literally see the pleading in her eyes.

"Oh no, no Eden," Mimi had went over and sat on Eden's lap, running her hands threw her hair, "it's girls' night and during girls' night we play truth or dare." Mimi's voice sounded like she was trying to explain something to a two year old.

"Fine, whatever," she knew she wasn't going to win this battle so she accepted her defeat and decided to play.

"Great!" Mimi was then jumping off of Eden's lap positioning herself yet again on the floor. "Where's Joanne?" Mimi squealed; I had been paying attention to Mimi and Eden that I hadn't even realized that Joanne wasn't in the room any longer.

"Here I am!" I heard her scream as she stumbled back into the living room, bottles of liquor in both hands. "Figure we might need these in here with us!" She laughed, took a huge gulp of one, and then came over to join me on the couch.

So there we all four sat ready to play a game I hadn't played since I was in junior high school. Mimi was completely giddy sitting on the floor, ready to burst from excitement. Eden was reluctantly playing, beginning to drink heavier. I was curled up at one end of the couch with my arm around Joanne who was snuggled right up against me; her one free hand wrapped around my leg.

"Joanne, truth or dare," Mimi questioned her, looking like she was ready to go in for the kill.

"Truth," she repositioned herself in my arms preparing herself for the question.

"What's the best sex you've ever had? And you have to tell us who it was with and where it was at?" Mimi clapped at her own question. I could see Joanne looking at me from the corner of her eye; an evil little grin coming across her face.

"Well," she was drumming her fingers on her chin, looking like she was in deep thought over what the answer may be. She better say me. She stayed there in that position thinking for quite sometime.

"Pookie any day now you can answer," seriously she better say me.

"Ok," she jumped at the excitement of telling her story, "of course it was with Maureen. It was when we first started dating," she looked over at me the devilish grin returning to her face, "it was in Central Park," she blurted out. Mimi and Eden almost died. Joanne turned back facing the two of them who were about to loose it, "it was amazing." With that she turned back to me, kissing me until Mimi threw a pillow at us.

"My turn," Joanne proclaimed, "Maureen truth or dare," she had to pick me didn't she.

"Dare," I got this 'bring your best shot' look on my face.

"Ok. I dare you to lick the bottom of Mimi's foot."

"That's disgusting Joanne," she just smiled and chugged down the rest of her vodka. I then looked over to Mimi who already had her shoe off extending her leg up in the air. "Fine." I took a drink, walked over and licked Mimi's foot, took another drink, and then slapped Joanne on the leg for making me do that.

"Eden truth or dare."

Reluctantly she muttered, "truth," and settled further back into the chair awaiting my question.

By this time I too was starting to feel pretty drunk and maybe that's why I even bought it up, but before I really knew what I was saying it came out. "How many girls have you kissed and name them." Joanne's eyes immediately shot over to me; even drunk she was in complete shock of what I had asked.

"Well," Eden's eyes were now fixated on the floor, her tone rather quiet, "just one girl," then the long awkward pause, "it was Joanne."

"Oh," I sarcastically remarked and then started rubbing my hand up and down Joanne's thigh. "Your turn Eden."

Our game continued on for quite awhile. We had got to hear about the first time Mimi ever had sex, Eden's first time going down on a guy, Joanne's first encounter with a female, and my sexual fantasy. When I answered that Joanne leaned over and whispered in my ear, _we could do that, _I can't wait. As the game progressed further and we each got more intoxicated, people started becoming braver and choosing the dare option. Because of this we had to witness Mimi dancing around the room naked and Joanne chugging two beers that had been left in the fridge by Roger in under a minute. But then it was Mimi's turn again which bought one of the most awkward moments of all night.

"Maureen, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

I heard her giggling from the floor as I finished off my vodka. "I dare you to make out with Eden."

"What?" I heard a shocked Eden say from her seat.

I too was in stunned by Mimi's dare; glancing back and forth from Joanne to Mimi. "Come on Meems," I was trying to reason with her on this one. First off, I didn't want to kiss Eden and second off, hello my girlfriend is sitting right beside me; the girlfriend who Eden once liked.

"Come on Maureen go to it, she dared you," I shockingly heard Joanne pipe up from beside me. "Go, get her." She was giggling; sure she thought this was funny, I'd make her pay later for egging this on.

"Go," Mimi started in on me. Then Mimi and Joanne started chanting, "kiss her, kiss her," till finally I couldn't stand it anymore. I accepted my defeat and walked over to Eden, leaning down and kissing her. Nothing too intense and there was definitely no tongue; she wasn't a bad kisser though. When we finished our kiss we received a standing ovation from Mimi and Joanne.

We didn't play too much longer. Nothing quite as crazy as that being dared or no real crazy truths being asked either. I did find out though that Eden enjoyed whipped cream and hot fudge.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

Our game of truth or dare never really officially ended; we each just started sharing stories with one another. And not all of them were sexual stories; most of them were, but not all of them.

I could tell that Mimi and Joanne's buzz was wearing off because they had become very quiet and calm. Joanne had curled up in my lap, resting her head on my shoulder, barely speaking. Mimi had curled up on the other end of the couch, staring off into space. She would actually join in the conversations though. But that didn't last for too long.

"Joanne let's go see if there is any liquor in the kitchen," Mimi was up on her feet, pulling Joanne off of my lap.

"Ok," she shrugged her shoulders, leaned over to kiss me, and then they were both gone in search of alcohol.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the living room. This was the first time since Eden had told me about her love affair for Joanne that we had been alone with each other. Our eyes were wondering around the room, attempting to do anything but make eye contact with one another.

"Do you have to be all over her when you're in front of me?" I heard Eden spat off from her chair.

"She's my girlfriend and if I want to be all over her I can," I fired back at her.

"You only do it because you think it'll make me jealous," she mockingly remarked. "That's pretty sad that the only reason you are showing any type of affection to your own girlfriend is because you want to make someone else jealous."

"For your information," I was now standing, my voice getting louder, "I could give a fuck if you are around or not."

She too was now on her feet walking over towards me, "it's disgusting."

"You're just jealous because she's not kissing you and it's not your body she has her hands all over," I heatedly yelled back at her.

"But I'm the one she's thinking about," she sassed back.

And that's all it took. I swung right at her face making contact with her jaw, knocking her back. She was soon hitting me back as well. Punches were being thrown both ways and mainly at each others faces. I could tell I got a few good hits on her, but I could also tell she got a couple good ones on me as well. Eventually we both fell onto the ground rolling around, still punching now pulling hair and whatever else we could manage.

I soon felt someone pulling me off of Eden. Joanne quickly had her arms around my chest, pinning my arms to my body; restraining me from kicking Eden's ass. I saw Mimi have the same hold on Eden.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Mimi was screaming.

"That bitch started it," I yelled trying to get loose from Joanne's grips so I could go after Eden some more.

"Calm down," Joanne yelled, jerking me around so that I was now facing her, looking into her eyes instead of Eden's. "Maureen, baby, calm down," her voice was much gentler now, yet still stern.

"Look you two need to figure this shit out between you," I could hear Mimi saying from behind me. "I don't care who started it but you guys are going to end this ridiculous feud of yours tonight."

Joanne looked deeper into my eyes, I could see pleading with me to try and end this whole mess. "Baby please try," she whispered; and for her, and only her, I'd try.

"Ok you two are going to be locked up until you fix this," Mimi was now pushing both of us towards her bedroom. "You are going to stay in here until you can act like mature human beings. If you want to act like five year olds, I'll treat you like five year olds." She shoved both of us into her room, "And," she added as she was getting ready to shut the door, "If you guys fight in here and mess up any of my shit, I'm going to kick both of your asses." With that both Mimi and Joanne left, leaving Eden and me alone in Mimi's room.

We sat in there forever in complete silence; we weren't even looking in each other's direction. Finally, I had enough of the silence. Joanne had asked me to try and fix this so I was going to and if Eden planned on staying with Mark, we couldn't just let this go on like it was.

"Can I ask you something Eden," she looked over at me and just nodded, "just tell me why you always find it necessary to still comment on me not deserving Joanne? Or why you would say anything about me dating her? You said you didn't want to be with her anymore." I was over the fact really that Eden liked Joanne at one point, because I knew that Joanne wasn't leaving me, I knew that she loved me, so I wasn't scared that I was going to loose her. I just needed to understand why Eden still acted the way she did towards me.

"Even though I don't want to be with Joanne like that anymore," she was now running her fingers across the arms of the chair, "I still think that Joanne needs someone who'll treat her better than you do." Her voice was very somber. "When I saw her that night, she was a complete wreck; I'll never be able to forget how much pain she was in that night because of you. And she deserves someone who doesn't make her feel like that."

"What? We got in a fight, couples get into fights, but we apologize and make up. And you don't think I was hurting that night." I was fighting back every ounce of rage inside of me, trying not to start yelling at her again; it was hard though. "How do I not treat her right? What have you seen me do that's so bad towards her? I love her, I take care of her, I make her laugh, what else do you want from me?" By the time I got through all of these questions I was yelling at her; sitting at the edge of the bed glaring at her.

"I don't know Maureen," she looked confused and defeated. "Maybe it is that I'm still just jealous that you got her, that she chose you and not me. I mean I love Mark and if I had to decide between the two of them, I'd choose Mark. But there is just something inside of me that gets so pissed off because she's with you. I just don't get what's so great about Maureen Johnson."

I was completely stunned by her last comment. I was utterly speechless.

"Look Maureen," she paused and then looked back up towards me, "I've got to go." With that she stood up out of her chair and walked out of the room. I heard her talking a little bit with Mimi and Joanne and then I heard the front door shut. I couldn't move though. I just sat there. Then slowly I saw the door being opened and Joanne walking into the room.

"Hey baby," her voice was soft and loving, "care if I sit down." I patted the empty spot beside me on Mimi's bed. She walked over sitting beside me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. I was holding back the tears; but tears of what I wasn't sure. She just held me though, rocking me in her arms, not asking any questions. Yet another thing I loved about her; she knew exactly when I just needed to be held, to feel loved.

Eventually we got up and walked out of Mimi's bedroom. Mimi was sitting on the kitchen counter and when she saw us she jumped down walking over to us, wrapping her arms around us both. "Hey why don't you guys just stay here tonight? It's late and you both have had a long night. You guys can have my bed; I'll sleep on the couch."

"Mimi we can't do that," Joanne spoke up.

"Sure you can watch." She grabbed both of us and turned us around; walking us back into her bedroom. Then she turned down her bed and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Joanne and I just looked at each other and climbed in bed. She was quickly scooting up behind me wrapping her arms around me. I grabbed hold of arms and cuddled into her as much as I could.

"I love you baby," she softly whispered into my ear as she kissed me goodnight on the cheek.

"I love you too," I replied. She squeezed me a little tighter and we both fell asleep. And that was the end of our girls' night.

**So hope that was worth the wait and you all liked it...let me know. And hopefully this writer's block is over and I'll have the next ch up quicker. Thanks for reading!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey guys, thanks again for reviews for last ch, as always you guys are way too nice! I know it's been awhile since I've posted...sorry I have been quite busy lately. I'm moving to NYC so I've been taking care of some details. But anyway...I hope you all like this ch, very long ch (12 pages in Word), basically conversations between different characters...hopefully explaining some things. Enjoy!**

(Joanne's POV)

The next morning I woke up to see Maureen staring at me. She looked lost and completely broken. Even after I woke up, she continued staring at me as though she was in a trance.

"Baby," I said softly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she nonchalantly answered me, "just watching you sleep…..thinking about us."

"What about us?" I continued.

She slightly shrugged her shoulder, "just about our relationship."

She was starting to make me nervous; I've never quite seen her like this before. She had barely moved since I woke up and her eyes seemed fixated on me. "Maureen, are you ok?" I reached over running my fingers threw her hair.

"I'm fine," her tone remained detached. She hadn't yet cracked a smile, touched me, or moved her eyes away from me. "Can we go home?"

"Of course," I was glad she had mentioned it. Something was going on with her; I needed to know what but figured Mimi's bedroom was not the place to get into it.

She quietly got out of the bed, put on her coat and shoes and walked out of the bedroom without waiting on me. When I walked out into the living room I saw Mimi standing in the kitchen and Maureen over by the front door. I walked over to Mimi to say goodbye and to thank her allowing us to stay the night.

"What's wrong with her?" Mimi quietly asked me as she hugged me goodbye.

"I have no idea," I softly responded, "she's acting awfully strange though."

"If you need me let me know," she leaned over hugging me once again before I left.

Maureen looked almost as though she was in a state of shock; she stood at the door emotionless. As I neared her, she turned and opened the door, not even attempting to take hold of my hand or wrapping her arm around me. I once again yelled goodbye to Mimi as we walked out of her apartment; Maureen said nothing. The entire way back to our apartment was eerie in a sense. Maureen wasn't talking, attempting to touch me in any sort of way, and walked rather slowly with her head down the entire way.

* * *

(Mark's POV)

I woke up the next morning alone in bed, something I was expecting since Eden was suppose to be staying at Mimi's after their girls' night. I was really glad that Mimi had invited her and that Eden actually accepted the invitation. I think it will be good for her and for the rest of the girls.

When I walked past the living room I did see something I didn't expect, Eden sleeping on the couch. Why in hell would she be home and why would she be sleeping on the couch.

I stood in the doorway to the living room, holding myself up by the wall. "Eden, wake up," I yelled from my position, "go to our bed honey," I continued on. I heard her groaning, stirring slightly from her original position. Then she turned revealing her face to me. "Oh my God Eden," I screamed as I ran over to the couch. "Baby what happened?" I asked as I reached up to gently touch her face. Her left eye was completely black and blue; swollen so bad that she could barely open her eye. She also had a nice size bruise on her jaw. What in the hell?

"Ouch," she reached up grabbing my hand pulling it away from her face. "It's nothing Mark."

"Nothing," I yelled back. "Your face is a mess," maybe I shouldn't have said it that way.

"Well thanks Mark," shouldn't have said it that way. "I just got in a fight with Maureen last night."

"What?" I again was yelling.

She sat up on the couch, patting the spot beside her. I obliged and sat down; pissed off at Maureen at the moment for hitting my girlfriend. "Last night we all went out to the comedy club. And well Mimi and Joanne got really drunk so we decided to go back to Mimi's apartment. Well after awhile Mimi and Joanne went looking for more alcohol leaving Maureen and me in the living room." She paused a minute reaching up lightly rubbing the bruise on her jaw. "Well we got talking….well arguing really….and she told me that I was jealous that she was the one Joanne was kissing and it was her body that Joanne's hands were all over…"

"I'm going to kill her," I spouted off as I went to get up to go call Maureen and chew her out.

"No wait Mark," Eden had reached up grabbing my hand pulling me back down on the couch. "Then I might have said something that caused her to let into me like she did."

"Might have?" I was getting rather suspicious now.

"Well I did," she bluntly replied. "I told her that Joanne was thinking of me when she was kissing and touching her." Her eyes shot to the ground.

"What?" now I was pissed off at Eden too. "Eden, why would you say that to her?" She didn't answer me though, just stayed there staring at the ground. "What is up with you and Maureen, can you guys just try to get along."

"I try," she whined.

"Eden no you don't," I sternly remarked, "I've heard you make comments to Maureen. She's not that bad you know." I just sat there looking at her; completely frustrated at how the two of them acted towards each other. "I'm going to go call Joanne….and get you some ice for that eye." I just figured that maybe between Joanne and me we could manage to figure out this whole mess with them.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

"This is Joanne," my cell phone had started ringing just as Maureen and I walked into the apartment. She headed straight for the bedroom and shut the door.

"Hey Joanne, its Mark," he sounded frustrated and exhausted; what is up with people today.

"Mark right now is not a real good time. Maureen is…" he cut me off before I could say another word.

"Well it's about Maureen….and Eden."

"Oh," I huffed as I positioned myself down onto the couch. "Mark your girlfriend is crazy you know that."

"And yours' isn't," he fired back. I tried keeping myself calm not wanting to start a fight between ourselves as well. "Joanne look," he continued, his voice much softer now, "something needs to be done with the two of them. They are acting like little kids towards each other."

"I agree," I calmly answered. "But what? Mark you should have seen the two of them last night fighting and screaming at each other. I don't know what to do."

"Well maybe if you talk to Maureen find out really what she is getting upset about and then I'll talk to Eden and see what her problem is. Then maybe we can get the two of them to just sit down and hopefully act like mature adults and have a conversation."

I know Mark had good intentions and he was really trying to come up with a good solution to our problem, but I didn't really think this would work. Even though they were acting like little kids, they weren't, and we couldn't force them to sit down and talk out their problems. "We can try that Mark, but honestly I just want to let you know that I think most of the attitude and spite lies with your girlfriend, not mine." I wanted to make it clear to Mark that just because I was agreeing to do this that I was blaming Maureen for all of this. I know that Eden was typically the one to start shit with her. He had become really quiet after I said this so apparently he wasn't disagreeing with me too much. "So maybe tomorrow we can come over there and get them to talk?" I needed to talk to Maureen right now about what was bothering her now, not deal with Mark and trying to figure out how to get Maureen and Eden to get along with another.

"Yeah sounds fine," I hope he knows what he has suggested, "thanks for trying this Joanne. I'll call you later, bye."

"Bye," I hung up my phone taking a deep sigh preparing myself for what was to come.

I got up heading back to our bedroom; I need to find out what was wrong with Maureen. I wasn't even going to bring up Eden or Marks' idea; I just need to talk to her now, see what is going on with her. I have a hunch though that Eden is at the core of this attitude change of hers. I slowly opened the bedroom door to see Maureen lying on our bed, a death grip on my pillow, and tears rolling down her face.

* * *

(Mimi's POV)

"Roger you'll never believe what happened last night," I said as I pushed right by him and made my way into his apartment.

"It better be good," he replied, rubbing his eyes, still half asleep.

"Oh it is," I slightly nodded my head, raising my eyebrows; a little smirk also coming across my face.

We both settled down on the couch, Roger looking as though he was going to fall back asleep resting his head on the back of the couch. "Maureen and Eden got in a fight," I blurted out to him.

"So what," he stirred, "those two are always yelling at each other." He yawned, snuggling closer into the cushions.

"No Roger, you don't understand. Like a fight, fight. Like throwing punches fight," I sounded half way excited about this news. Something inside of me found it quite amusing that Maureen and Eden had gotten in a fist fight; I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later though.

"What!" shocked he immediately sat straight up looking at me, "who won?"

I laughed at him because he was more worried about who won than what they were fighting over; but maybe that was a no brainer. "I'd say Maureen kicked her ass." We both now started laughing. "Maureen and Joanne stayed at my place last night and when they left this morning Maureen barely had a mark on her. When Eden left last night you could already see her eye beginning to bruise."

"So Maureen got her good huh?"

"Yeah. When Joanne and I ran into the living room to pull them apart, Maureen was on top of Eden pounding her." Roger was almost uncontrollably laughing by this point. I swear I could see some tears falling he was laughing so hard. From watching him loosing it and also replaying the fight in my head I couldn't help but laugh either. I felt kind of bad though laughing because two of my friends had gotten into a fight, but damn was it funny.

"What's going on?" I heard a confused voice walking towards us. When I wiped some tears that had also formed in my eyes, I noticed Collins standing in front of me.

"Oh Collins sit down you have to hear this," Roger was enjoying this too much I think.

"Ok," Collins still completely confused at what was so funny cautiously sat down in the chair staring at us both.

Roger looked over at me, his eyes literally beaming with amusement, "can I tell him?"

"Sure go ahead Roger."

Roger leaned over towards Collins, his tone becoming serious now, "Maureen kicked Eden's ass last night," and then again he was loosing it laughing so hard he was holding himself up on the couch by the armrest.

"What?" Collins too was now smiling, I could tell holding in the laughter.

Roger was laughing so much he couldn't even talk now. So I filled Collins in on what I had already told Roger. Collins was more in a state of shock I think that it had actually happened. He had predicted it happening though about two weeks ago.

"So what caused Maureen to finally snap?" Collins asked me. Roger now calming himself down, but still a huge smile on his face.

"Well actually," I started, "basically Eden told Maureen that Joanne thought about her when she was kissing and touching Maureen."

"No shit," Roger blurted out; his face now froze in a state of shock.

"Damn girls got some nerves," Collins added.

"I'd kicked her ass too," Roger continued. Both of them were now sitting there completely stunned that Eden had actually said that Maureen. "Wow," was all Roger could manage to say.

"So where are they now?" Collins asked.

"Well Eden went home last night and Maureen and Joanne left together this morning."

"So…..Maureen finally kicked Eden's ass…..good for her," Collins affirmed as he reached down into his paper bag pulling out a bottle of stoli, "who wants some?" He poured each of us a glass, "to Maureen," he toasted and we all drank to Maureen finally having the nerve to do what we all thought she had the right to do to begin with.

* * *

(Eden's POV)

Mark came back into the room with a bag of ice in his hand and a disappointed look on his face. I knew Mark wanted Maureen and me to get along; she was one of his best friends. However, I also knew that Mark heard for himself or heard from someone else every snide little remark I made about Maureen. He saw every look I would give her; he was observant and things like this did not get past him. But I also knew that Mark had kept his mouth shut, not saying anything to me because he didn't want to make a huge deal about this if no one else was; because for the longest time no one was. For a while Maureen herself even ignored my comments and looks. But some of them weren't always intentional; sometimes I just clandestinely blurted something out or didn't even realize I was looking at her. Maybe Mark knew that, maybe that was why he has never really said anything to me about this before. I don't know exactly why he never did before, but I'm sure that he was going to say something to me about it now.

"Here you go sweetie," he gently placed the ice bag against my eye as he sat down beside me on the couch. After a long silence between us he continued, "so you want to tell me what happened?" he calmly asked.

"We were drunk and I said some stuff that I shouldn't have said to her," I ashamedly said to him.

"Why do you have to say stuff to her anyhow Eden?"

"I don't know Mark. I know how bad she used to treat you and I have trouble considering the fact that she would treat Joanne any different. Joanne's my friend and I hate to think that she isn't getting treated as well as she deserves."

"But Eden Joanne's not me; Maureen loves Joanne. Plus, have you ever seen Maureen do anything so terrible to her?"

"No," I calmly replied. Our conversation was actually going along very quietly and calmly. "But Mark even you said that Maureen treated you wonderfully and acted like nothing was wrong in front of everyone else."

"That's true," he shrugged, "but that doesn't mean it's the same with Joanne."

"Maybe not Mark, but how do we know?"

"Eden, if Joanne wasn't happy with Maureen believe me we'd know or Joanne would have already left her. Think about when all of this happened with both of them with Steve; who did Joanne want around her and who did Maureen want around her?"

"I know," I tear started falling down my cheek. Maybe it was because I was realizing how ridiculous and unfair that I have been towards Maureen.

"Eden, why do you care so much?"

"Cause she's my friend and I don't want to see her hurting. Besides you Mark she's really the only true friend I have in my life." He scooted in closer to me, wrapping his arm around me, rubbing my shoulders. "She's the only person besides you in my entire life that I have ever felt any sort of love from."

"Sweetie, I'm glad that you have finally found such a great friend in Joanne but if you're not careful you're going to loose her too." He paused for a minute, "because honestly sweetie if Joanne has to choose between Maureen and you, she's going to choose Maureen." Some part of me was glad to hear Mark say that. "Is Maureen really all that bad?"

"No, I guess not."

"Well then."

"Mark I just can't get the memories of how bad you were hurt when Maureen cheated on you all those times or how upset Joanne was that night I met her in the bar."

"Joanne and Maureen had a fight, that's it. They used to always have fights. But that doesn't mean they don't love each other Eden. I think it was just that they were both scared of how much they loved each other and how much passion they felt for one another; it scared them both, so they just kept pushing at each other. But I hardly see them fight anymore whatsoever the last night may have been the night you met Joanne."

I couldn't respond to him. I just laid my head against his shoulder and cried some more. Mainly crying because I knew that I had been acting like a complete fool; knowing that everything Mark had just said was right; knowing that I owed Maureen and Joanne an apology.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

I wiped the tears from my eyes, realizing that Joanne was standing in the doorway staring at me. I tried calming my sobbing but it wasn't working. I couldn't stop my tears from flowing freely from my eyes. Joanne continued to just stand there; a look a shear concern on her face. I buried my head deeper into Joanne's pillow, the sobs now came harder.

I felt Joanne crawl in the bed from behind me, making her way over to my trembling body. She grabbed a hold of me, turning me over so that I was now lying in her arms, my head resting against her chest. She was holding me as close to her as she could, rocking back and forth trying to calm me down. I felt safe in her arms, protected, like nothing could possibly be wrong as long as she was holding me. But then Eden's words kept ringing through my head _what's so great about Maureen Johnson. _What is so great about me? Why did I deserve Joanne for?

Finally once she realized that I had calmed down she raised me up off of her chest and stared straight into my eyes. "Maureen what's wrong baby?" I could see so much concern and love for me in her eyes.

I coughed clearing my throat, still finding it hard to hold in the tears, "it's just Eden."

"What about Eden?" She was gently rubbing my back; actually giving me the courage to continue talking about everything.

"When Mimi and you left us in Mimi's bedroom last night…..Eden made a comment….well….she just asked…..what's so great about Maureen Johnson?" I was gasping to catch my breath through saying all of that. It was harder than I thought to say aloud; to actually have to hear it again and this time coming out of my own mouth. The tears came rushing out again and I collapsed my head against Joanne's shoulder.

She held me for awhile, allowing me to yet again calm down some. When my tears had slowed she pulled me up once more away from her comforting body. She sat directly in front of me on the bed now; placing one leg on each side of me, moving as close to me as she could, taking hold of my shoulders, gazing into my eyes.

"You want to know what is so great about Maureen Johnson?" she began, "she's the most loving, caring, passionate, sincere woman that I have ever known. She's my best friend and the best lover I've ever had," that made a small smile appear on my face, "she knows what I'm thinking before I even say it. She puts me before anyone else, even herself." I could see tears now forming in her eyes too, "she tells me that she loves me when I've had the worst day of my life and it makes me feel so much better and she tells me that she loves me when I've had the best day of my life and it somehow makes that day even better. She lights up a room when she walks into it and she lights up my life by just looking at me." A stray tear fell from her eye and I reached over and gently wiped it away. She reached up and took a hold of my hand gently kissing it. "She's the love of my life and I couldn't imagine a day without her; I'd die without her."

I placed both my hands on the sides of her face, "I love you." Then I leaned over to her pushing her back onto the bed as I lay down on top of her, intensely pressing my lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around my body, squeezing me closer to her body.

I slowly pulled my lips away from her, gazing down into her deep brown eyes. Slowly a smile crept across her face as she kept a tight hold on my body. I couldn't move or say anything, her eyes had hypnotized me. So it was Joanne who finally broke our silence.

"Baby," she softly spoke, "is that all that has been bothering you…..that Eden asked what was so great about you?"

"Eden says a lot of things that bother me," I began.

Joanne interrupted, "I'm sorry about that baby. I should have said something earlier to her about it. She has no right to treat my baby like that," she lifted her head off of the bed a lightly pecked my lips.

"That's ok pookie," I wasn't blaming Joanne at all for Eden's actions, "she also said," I tried stopping myself from continuing but I knew once I started that sentence that Joanne wouldn't let me go without finishing it so I voluntarily continued, "that when you were kissing me or touching me that you were thinking about her."

"What?" Joanne was completely taken a back from what I just told her. "Believe me baby, Eden is the furthest thing from my mind when I kiss you or when I'm even around you," she reached her hand up placing it on the back of my neck, pulling my lips back down to meet hers once again. Her soft lips embraced mine, sending shivers threw my body.

After awhile of me lying on top of Joanne making out with her she sat up on the bed; I was sitting on her lap straddling her. I felt her finger against the edge of my lips wiping away the smudged lipstick that she had caused. I watched her eyes and they intently focused on my lips; it amazes me that I could love someone so much sometimes.

"Hey baby," she finally spoke after fixing my lipstick, "Mark called me earlier and he wants Eden, him, you, and me to all sit down and talk tomorrow."

"I don't know," I reluctantly said. This whole mess with Eden and me needed to be fixed, but I didn't feel like talking to her. She always found someway to piss me off. But then again this time Mark and Joanne both would be around, so maybe I could at least humor the idea.

"Please Maureen just try for me please," she was pouting her lips and flashing those puppy dog eyes at me, "I won't let her say anything bad to you, I promise, or I'll kick her ass this time," I playfully slapped Joanne on the shoulder and we both started laughing.

"Ok if you want me to I will," I told her. "But you owe me," I pointed my finger at her; my mother always did that when I was a kid to show how serious she was trying to be.

"Yeah, yeah I owe you," she mockingly replied, "now get off of me," she laughed and began tickling my sides knowing this would work to get me off of her. And of course it did; I feel off to the side of her squirming around, trying to get her to stop.

She stood up off the bed and reached down helping me to my feet. I immediately had my arms wrapped around her waist, leaning my head up against hers, "where are you going?"

"Well I'm hungry, thought maybe I'd go cook us some lunch," she answered.

"Great I'm hungry too," I gleefully said as I kissed her once more before making my way out the bedroom door and to the kitchen to find some food.

* * *

(Fly on the wall's POV)

On Sunday afternoon, just as planned, Maureen and Joanne showed up at Mark and Eden's apartment. The tension in the room was almost unbearable. No one knew quite what to say or where to start; everyone just kept looking back and forth from one another.

Finally, Mark spoke up, "well why don't we go and sit down in the living room. Does anyone want anything to drink?" he was now rubbing his sweaty palms together, a nervous habit of his.

"I'm fine thanks Mark," Joanne politely responded. Maureen and Eden both just shook their heads no, as all three women made there way into the living room while Mark went to get himself some tea.

Mark came into the living room to find all three women sitting in complete silence; the tension still very present. Not a single person in the room looked comfortable or looked as though they wanted to be there. Mark was again rubbing his palms together, Joanne continually licking her lips and staring at everything in the room except for another human being, Maureen was biting at her fingernails, and Eden was fidgeting with her necklace.

"Well guess we should just get this over with," Joanne spoke up, her lawyer tone very present in her voice. "So you two," she looked directly at Maureen and Eden, "need to figure out how to get pass this feud of yours."

Mark then interjected, "we can't have you two hating each other and continually fighting. Joanne and I love you guys and can't stand that you can't seem to at least be civil with one another." Both Maureen and Eden were staring at the ground, both acting as if they were back in grade school getting punished by the principal.

"So if you both can just be open about what you are feeling and thinking we can figure something out here," Joanne added.

"Well," Maureen mumbled from beside Joanne, "I can't stand the fact that Eden is continually saying something about me being with Joanne." She then looked up from the ground staring straight at Eden, "she chose me you know," a hint of hostility being detected in her voice. Joanne reached over, placing her hand on Maureen's leg as in an attempt to keep her calm. "Sorry," Maureen said, "but I love her Eden I really do and she loves me."

"I know she does," Eden finally spoke, "but having heard about how you treated Mark and then to meet Joanne that night at the bar and she was so hurt by you…..it's just hard to think that you could treat her like she deserves."

"But she does," Joanne piped up. "I do love her Eden; she's the love of my life."

"I know you love her Joanne and I just want you to be happy," Eden added.

"I am happy," Joanne told her as she smiled taking hold of Maureen's hand.

"I know all of this. And last night Mark and I had a talk about all of this. I completely understand that you two love each other and that Maureen has apparently changed from how she use to treat Mark. But it's just that Joanne is one of the first true friends that I have ever had in my entire life," Eden was now obviously forcing back the tears, "from my past personal experiences people don't change that often; I guess I truly believe once a cheater always a cheater."

Mark looked over at this girlfriend, who was on the verge of baring some truly painful past experiences. He had already known of these painful memories she kept buried inside of her. Eden once dated a guy that she knew used to beat up his girlfriends and cheat on them, but he swore to her that he had changed. At the beginning of the relationship he never laid a hand on her and was completely faithful, she thought he had changed. But then once she started getting really serious about him all of that changed. This man would beat Eden until she could barely walk; she was put in the hospital on three separate occasions because of his beatings. She was also certain that he was cheating on her now too, with more than just one girl. And still for some reason she could never walk away from him. Finally, though a nurse that was taking care of her got her to realize how unhealthy and unsafe of a relationship it was and she left him, but it took someone continually pointing it out to her that he was not treating her well. That's when Eden came to New York, after she finally got away from him.

"Maureen I'm sorry," Eden continued on, "I shouldn't interfere with your relationship with Joanne."

"Thank you," Maureen genuinely responded. "And I'm sorry too….mainly for causing that black eye," Maureen actually seemed apologetic.

Eden snickered, "I deserved it," she smiled over at Maureen as she lightly touched her swollen eye. "So were ok?" she questioned Maureen.

Maureen looked over at Joanne, then back to Eden, "yeah we're ok."

"Well good, now maybe we can all be around each other without having to continually separate the two of you," Mark pointed out. "So you two want to go out to lunch with Eden and me?" Mark questioned Maureen and Joanne.

"Thanks for the invitation," Joanne said, "but I have some work I really have to get done before I head back to work tomorrow. Some other time though?"

"Of course," Mark replied as he stood.

They all four said their goodbyes to one another. Maureen and Eden opted to just shake one another's hand instead of hugging goodbye as everyone else was doing. Joanne and Maureen walked hand in hand out of the apartment but looking rather thankful that their "meeting" was over with. As Mark shut the door behind him he walked over to his girlfriend grabbing her hand and leading her back to the bedroom…

**So what did you think? Let me know please! I appreciate any type of feedback on this ch. I'm not real sure how much I like the convo between Joanne, Maureen, Mark and Eden...but it's late and it was the last one I had to write before I could post so I just threw it together rather quickly. But let me know. Just so you know this fic is going to have 32 chs total. I have figured out what is going to happen in each of the remaining chs but I haven't started writing them yet so any suggestions would be appreciated and I'll take them into consideration. But please review! Thanks for reading!**


	30. Chapter 30

**As always thanks again for all the reviews from last chapter! I look forward to getting your alls reviews after I post. I don't know if you noticed (or if you even care) but I changed the rating on this fic because it gets a little graphic towards the end of this ch. I hope you like it though, if not let me know, I'll consider changing it. Enjoy!**

(Maureen's POV)

It's been a week now since Mark and Joanne's intervention of sorts. Eden and I are now civil around each other, but no way near becoming friends anytime soon. I'm not sure I still really trust her though. She still seems a little flirty around Joanne, but I try my hardest to brush it off; reminding myself that they are just friends or at least that Joanne sees it that way. Because every night Joanne is leaving with me, going to our bed with me, and having crazy unforgettable sex with me, not Eden. I think about that and then get a huge grin on my face and then I typically want to take Joanne right then and there.

During this past week, Joanne and I had to go to Steve's hearing. It wasn't scheduled this early, but Joanne's dad was able to pull some more strings moving his hearing. The hearing wasn't until three in the afternoon, so Joanne went ahead and worked half a day; leaving me alone in the apartment by myself. I couldn't sit still the entire morning; pacing the apartment continually until I wore myself out. Walking into that room, seeing Steve sitting there with his lawyer, my legs became weak and my heart began racing even faster than it was already. Joanne had taken hold of my hand as soon as we stepped out of the taxi and hadn't let go since. When she saw my reaction to seeing Steve, she squeezed my hand a little tighter, looking over at me mouthing _I'm right here_ to me. I finally released her hand from mine, wrapping my arm around her waist pulling her closer to me while we walked to our seats. There of course was a whole bunch of legal talk I really didn't understand but the main points were that Steve was pleading guilty to both charges and that he would be tried on two separate occasions for each crime. He was first going to be on trial for my case, and then Joanne's was scheduled for about two months after mine. Joanne told me that he'd easily serve jail time. And of course her dad was going to try and pull yet some more strings to get the trials moved up.

Within the past week I have also begun getting up with Joanne in the mornings, but then of course going straight back to sleep once she leaves. Well the other morning before she left I asked her out on a date for tonight. It was almost awkward asking her out on a date seeing how we've been dating for nearly three years now. But it was also sweet and romantic getting to ask her out like that; of course she said yes. I was planning on taking her to this little candlelit restaurant down in the West Village. Collins had loaned me the money once I promised to come and clean his apartment for him, once a week for the next month I was going to be stuck cleaning up after Collins when I hated to clean up after myself. But for my pookie, I had no problem agreeing to his request. I just wanted to get to have a nice romantic evening with her. I better go get ready if I want to be ready on time.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

Yet another long exhausting day at the office; I was all ready to be done with today and it was only two in the afternoon. It seemed like today was taking forever to pass; but it always seems that way when you are excited about something. Maureen had asked me out on a date the other morning. It was cute, how she stood there in front of me in her pajamas, her voice trembling as she spoke. She wouldn't tell me anything she had planned for tonight, but I really don't care what we do tonight. Well as long as we get to have some private fun once we get home.

Maureen had told me this morning that she wasn't going to be home when I made it home this evening. Said she was going to get ready and go over and spend time at Mimi's; giving me time to come home and get ready myself. Then she'd come back over to the apartment around eight and pick me up. She's being way too cute about all of this; it's rather endearing.

The rest of the afternoon drug on and on; I was just going through the motions. I was finding hard to focus on any task, my mind wondering what Maureen could have planned and the excitement that was building up inside me with each passing minute. Finally, it was six and I was able to leave. I rushed out of there, nearly running over a colleague as they were about to enter my office. "Is it urgent?" I quickly asked as I turned around facing her, walking backwards down the hall.

"No, I don't guess," she shrugged.

"I'll deal with it Monday then," I waved goodbye to her and rushed back to the apartment to get ready for my date.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

I slowly made my way up the stairs to our apartment; it was eight and just as I promised Joanne I was picking her up for our date. I reached the door, lightly tapping on it; excitement and anticipation rushed through my body. I could hear Joanne's heals clicking against the hardwood floor from inside the apartment as she neared the door. Then slowly she opened the door and there stood the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

Joanne reached her hand out to me, slowly pulling me inside the apartment shutting the door once I made my way inside. She then leaned in closer to me; joining our lips together, teasing me with her lips as she was gently running them across my own. She was making it very hard for me not to start undressing her right then, taking her back to our bedroom. My hands wanted to slowly slide the straps of her little black dress off of her shoulders allowing the dress that was so perfectly fitting every part of her to fall to the ground. The little black dress was accenting her features in all the right places; her curves, her legs, and her chest. I slowly ran my hands down the smooth chocolate skin of her arms. When my hands reached her own, she took hold of them and ever so slowly released her lips from me. I didn't move, my eyes still closed cherishing the moment. When I did finally open my eyes there Joanne stood in front of me, the biggest, happiest, sexiest smile I have ever seen covering her face.

"You look stunning baby," she said as she ran her eyes up and down my body.

I had to look down at my dress reminding myself what I had put on for tonight. It was a strapless green floor length dress, one I'd never worn before. I thought it brought out the color of my eyes and since Joanne was always telling me how she loved my eyes, I thought it was the perfect dress for tonight. Joanne released her hands from mine, placing them on my waist and slowly running them downwards to my hips; this time eagerly pulling me towards her.

"Where are you taking me tonight," she flirtatiously asked as she once again pressed her lips against mine.

"It's a surprise," I winked at her, grabbing her hand, "let's go though, I want to get back here as soon as we can." She let out a little giggle and slapped me on the ass as we walked out of the apartment for our date night.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

We sat in this quaint restaurant in the West Village; our eyes never loosing contact with one another's for very long and our feet wrapped around each others. The restaurant was candlelit with soft music playing in the background. When we arrived at our table a bottle of wine was already being chilled, waiting on us. It was very romantic. The restaurant was filled with other couples, young and old, straight and gay, new and old loves were all basking in the romantic atmosphere.

"This is so sweet baby, thank you," I told Maureen as I reached across the table taking hold of her hand. "I love you so much," I lifted her hand, lightly kissing the top of it.

"You don't have to thank me," she squeezed my hand tighter as a smile crept across her face, "and I love you too."

"After this you want to go take a walk with me?" I nervously asked her. I knew a walk around New York City was not what she had in mind next.

"Well," her voice got softer, "I was hoping to take you back to the apartment." She paused looking rather disappointed at what I had suggested. But I started pouting my lips, "ok," she gave in, "if you want to we can. But then back to the apartment?" she flirtatiously added.

"Of course," I satisfyingly smiled at her.

The rest of our time was filled with us laughing, flirting, and drinking; somewhere in there we ate some of the most delicious food I had ever tasted. I was enjoying just being out with her, being able to just be around her without any drama. The night was going so wonderfully I didn't want it to end. As we were waiting on the waiter to bring us our check I just sat there and stared at her, my eyes not moving away from my beautiful girlfriend.

"What?" she inquisitively asked.

"Oh sorry," her voice had snapped me out of whatever spell she had put me under, "I was just thinking how lucky I was," I smiled as I saw her slightly blush.

"Stop it," she playfully remarked. "Thank you," she said to our waiter as he handed her the check; a smile on his face from apparently being able to see Maureen blushing. She paid the bill and we left the restaurant hand in hand to walk around in New York City.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

I'm not really sure why Joanne wanted to go walking around tonight, it was not real cold out tonight, but not necessarily a good night to be walking around. She said something about just wanting to enjoy being out with me in the city. I honestly just wanted to go home and take her to bed; but I wanted to make her happy, so if I had to delay my plans slightly that was ok, we have all night and tomorrow.

Next thing I knew Joanne was mentioning going to Battery Park, something about just wanting to look out over the water and about how pretty the Statue of Liberty was at night. I don't know, but Battery Park is pretty at night, so I obliged once again and found myself in a taxi heading to Battery Park with Joanne.

Once we made it there, Joanne and I made our way over to where we could easily see out over the water and hear the waves crashing into the land. You could faintly hear some music coming from some nearby musician. It was much more crowded than I had expected it to be especially seeing how chilly it had gotten. But still there were people walking around enjoying living in the city that never sleeps.

I was standing up against the railing; Joanne standing behind me with her arms tightly wrapped around my waist and her head resting against mine.

"I love you Maureen Johnson," she whispered in my ear.

"I love you too," I told her as I moved my body in her arms so that I could wrap my arms around her neck, pulling her into a kiss. I pulled her tightly against me, intensifying our kiss. After I pulled away, I repositioned my body so that she was again behind me holding me in her arms.

She let go of me with one of her arms, leaving the other one to rest on my stomach. When her other hand returned into my view I saw the most gorgeous ring I had ever seen held with her hand. I gasped at its beauty, at the beauty of this moment. Joanne loosened her grip from me as I slowly turned back around to face her once again, however tears in my eyes this time.

"Joanne," my voice quivered.

"Shhh," she placed her finger gently over my lips, "let me first," she said her voice cracking. I nodded as I felt a tear run down my cheek; my heart racing in excitement. "Maureen I love you. It's that simple. I know sometimes we can drive each other crazy," I let out a little giggle, "but when it's with you, crazy is fine with me. I love every part of you, every part about being with you." Her hand has begun shaking in mine, "will you marry me?"

I didn't answer her at first, I just kissed her. It was so deep, so intense, so passionate that I could feel even the shivers it sent through her body. I slowly pulled my face away from hers, "yes," I softly said. I saw her eyes light up as she reached down grabbing my left hand and slowly slipping the ring on my finger. I stretched my arm out to admire the symbol of love Joanne had just put on my finger. I excitedly started giggling as I wrapped Joanne in my arms; this was the happiest moment of my life.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

We both wanted to tell everyone about our engagement, but first wanted to enjoy tonight as our own; we'd tell them all tomorrow.

As we reached our apartment door, my back was slammed against the outside of the door by Joanne. Both of our hands were already all over each other, our lips connected in a passionate embrace. Joanne was trying to find the keys that were somewhere buried in her purse, while still kissing me. About as I was ready to rip her purse out of her hands, she found them unlocking the door; both of us nearly falling inside.

We were all over each other as we made our way down the hallway. It couldn't seem to happen fast enough for either one of us.

As we entered the bedroom it seemed to bring us both to a standstill. We just stood there a few steps away from one another for a moment, both still completely clothed, staring at one another. My eyes then went down to the ring sitting on my finger; I couldn't help but smile. Joanne's body then came into view as she slowly reached her hands around me unzipping my dress. I stood completely still, my eyes closed, as I heard the zipper being pulled down. Then with a light tug of my dress from Joanne, I felt the strapless green dress fall off of my body. My body quivered as I felt Joanne's hands run across my bare stomach around my waist to the small of my back, pulling me against her. Her soft luscious lips then were gently kissing my collar bone. I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. My eyes opened as I steadily reached my hands up to rest on top of her shoulders, gently gliding the straps of her dress off her shoulders. She raised her head up extending her arms above her head so to allow the straps to fall to her side. I placed my hands on either side of her chest and pulled the dress down her body, running my hands down her curves as I lead the dress to the floor. I was now on my knees in front of her. I wrapped my arms around her hips, kissing her stomach ever so gently. She reached down to me lifting me up to me feet. Slowly but surely the rest of our clothing found its way off of our bodies leaving the two of us naked standing in front of one another. I pushed Joanne down on the bed, lingering my body over top of hers. She leaned up towards me, her lips making contact with mine and leading me to fully lay my body on top of hers. As our hands started roaming over one another's, our kiss became more intense more sexual. My heart started to race, my breathing now picking up. I could feel Joanne's chest as well rising and falling at a faster rate. Joanne's hands had found their way to my ass as my lips started traveling down her neck. My lips now traveled down to Joanne's breasts where my hands were already tracing her now hard nipples. My tongue licked the area between her breasts, my hands taking her breast fully in them; Joanne letting out a slight moan. My mouth eventually made it down to its final destination. I heard Joanne take in a deep breath as my hands pulled her legs apart giving access to my mouth. I teased her with my tongue as it made its way across the insides of her thigh until finally reaching her. As my tongue entered her, I heard a pleasurable whimper coming from Joanne. Her body began writhing as I continued, becoming more focused at pleasing her. As I heard Joanne scream out in pleasure, I released my tongue from her making my way back up her body; placing small kisses on her sweaty body. She was panting, a look of pure ecstasy on her face; I smiled knowing I was able to allow her to experience that. Our mouths were again meeting; my tongue knowing exploring the inside of Joanne's mouth. Our wet bodies were sliding over one another's as Joanne rolled me over onto my back, her body now resting on top of mine. My fingers were now scratching at Joanne's back as she focused her attention on my breasts; her mouth and hands not leaving any part of them untouched. My body was tensing in anticipation as Joanne's hands made their way down my body. As her mouth remained focused on my breasts, her hand was now caressing the inside of my thigh. Her fingers slowed moved inside of me; my body already beginning to squirm in shear delight of her intruding fingers. They began moving faster within me, her mouth now sucking on my stomach getting closer to her hands. My heart was pounding as I screamed out her name in sheer ecstasy. Her body then collapsed beside mine in bed; both of us out of breath and satisfied.

We laid there for a while, both of us speechless until I again stretched out my arm to admire my ring. "It's beautiful isn't it?" I asked her.

"It's beautiful on you," she responded as she turned over laying half of her body across me.

I wrapped my arms around her, "I couldn't be happier Joanne," I told her as I reached up kissing her. "And not just because we just had sex….which was amazing….but because I have you in my life," I continued as I rubbed her back.

"Maureen you make me happier than you will ever know," she smiled down at me, her hand gently rubbing the side of my face.

We laid there a while longer, basking in the glow of everything that had happened tonight. We were engaged, I couldn't believe it. She had finally asked me and I said yes. This time nothing about it scared me. I was truly thrilled with the idea of committing to Joanne for the rest of my life, to living with her and loving only her the rest of my life. I looked down at Joanne who by now had fallen asleep in my arms. She was absolutely beautiful; I can't believe this woman is going to be my wife. She truly makes me happy in every sense of the word. I reached down pulling a blanket up around our still naked bodies, kissing Joanne's forehead, as I drifted off to sleep after having the best day of my life.

**So what do you think? Did you see the engagement coming, honestly? Just wondering. Like I said if you don't like the sex scene let me know and I'll consider revising it. Please don't be harsh though...constructive criticism always welcomed though. So just 2 more chs left for this fic...so stayed tuned, hopefully I'll get to update soon. Thanks for reading!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Thanks again for the reviews...not as many as I was expecting though...maybe everyone didn't follow it over to the M rating. But anyway, thanks to the ones of you who did review it! So hope you like this ch...Enjoy!**

(Joanne's POV)

I woke up the next morning to the feeling of Maureen's lips against my forehead. Slowly I opened my eyes to see Maureen staring at me, her eyes lit up seeing that I was now awake.

"Good morning fiancé," she giggled.

I let out a little smirk as I pulled my body on top of Maureen's. "Good morning," I replied as I kissed her. Her hands were now rubbing my bare ass; a huge grin on her face. I reached back down to kiss her; longer and harder this time. My lips left hers, tracing down her body. As I was kissing her stomach, I placed each of my hands on the inside of her thighs, pulling them apart so that I could satisfy her once more. I traced my tongue around her, teasing her, as my hands made their way back up her body. She was letting out faint whimpers of pleasure and anticipation. My tongue then entered into her, causing her whimpers to become loud moans. I had only one goal in mind, to satisfy her in only ways she told me I knew how. Her hips began thrusting and I could hear her screaming my name out; so apparently I was achieving my goal. I pulled my tongue out of her, tracing it around her once again, before returning my lips to hers. She was panting, barely able to speak to me.

"Now your turn," but I stopped her from turning me over onto my back.

"Just you, this morning is just all about you," I told her as my fingers found their way into where my tongue was just minutes before. She bit her lower lip as I my fingers explored inside of her. I could see the satisfaction of what I was doing coming over her face, her body writhing beneath mine.

"Oh God Joanne, you are so fucking good at this," she screamed out. She continued moaning and groping my body until she climaxed, her body collapsing further into the bed. "That….was…. incredible," she said, her eyes closed, a huge smile covering her face.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I whispered into her ear as I started nibbling at it.

We remained in bed for quite sometime, my body still lying on top of Maureen. Finally, though I pulled my head off of her chest seeing her disappointed face at the fact that I was ending our fun. "Come on, we better get ready," I started, "we have a big announcement to tell everyone," I reached down grabbing a hold of her left hand, bringing it into my view so that I could admire how beautiful and perfect it looked on her hand.

I slowly slid off of her, making my way to the bathroom to get a shower. I had expected Maureen to follow me, but she didn't; she was still lying naked in the bed when I emerged back into the bedroom after my shower.

"Baby get up," I was now yelling at her.

"Fine I'm up," she reluctantly climbed out of bed and made her way to me, her face only inches from mine. "You took a shower without me?"

"You could have gotten your lazy ass out of bed and joined me," I remarked as I wrapped my arms around her.

"You didn't invite me," she pouted.

"I think that ring gives you a full time pass to join me at anytime."

She giggled, admiring her ring once again. "I love you," she excitedly told me as she quickly kissed me.

"I love you," I flirtatiously proclaimed, slapping her bare ass as she walked by me to go get her shower.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

Joanne and I had gotten ready and called everyone asking them to meet us at Roger's. Of course there were a million questions about why we were so urgent on everyone meeting up, but of course neither of us gave anyone any hints about our news.

We made it to the loft, purposefully slightly later than what we had told everyone; we wanted to make sure everyone was there when we got there so we wouldn't have to wait. We stood outside of the door; our hands latched together, my heart racing with excitement, ready to share with our friends the biggest news of our lives.

"It's about time," I heard Mimi screaming as the loft door flew open. "Come on, everyone's been waiting," she continued as she grabbed hold of Joanne's free hand dragging us inside. I realized that my free hand was my left hand, so my ring was very visible so I slid it into my coat pocket keeping it hid for just a while longer.

"Finally," Mark proclaimed as he stood from his seat, "you all have us worried, what's going on?" Everyone looked completely confused and anxious to hear our news. Joanne and I stood in front of them unable to contain our excitement.

"Well," I started, looking over at Joanne whose face was glowing, "last night Joanne and I..." I had paused for a moment unwillingly giving Roger enough time to add in one of his smart ass comments.

"If you guys just want to tell us about you guys having sex, I'm going to enjoy the story and then kill you for making me worry." Everyone kind of snickered at his comment; I looked over at Joanne smiling ear from ear…

"We're engaged," I calmly told them, my eyes never leaving Joanne's.

Joanne and I were soon being pulled apart, both being enveloped in hugs and kisses. Our friends were genuinely excited for us.

"Let me see the ring," Mimi screamed from excitement. I pulled my hand out of my coat pocket revealing my gorgeous platinum ring. Mimi gasped as its beauty. "Oh Joanne," she shouted, "it's beautiful." I looked over at Joanne, who seemed rather pleased with herself.

Everyone was still offering their congratulations to us when I turned to see Eden walking up to me. Everyone got silent as she made her way to me.

"Congratulations Maureen, I'm really happy for you," then she leaned over hugging me. I was in a complete state of shock.

"Thank you Eden," I replied.

Joanne walked over to me, wrapping her arm around my waist as she kissed me on the cheek. I was so happy right now; everything seemed so perfect in this moment. I was engaged to the love of my life and I was getting to share it with the greatest friends I've ever known.

"Oh we have to celebrate tonight," Collins spoke up, excitement ringing through his voice.

"Definitely," Mimi chimed in. "Let's go to a strip club," her face lit up at her idea.

No one seemed to object to the idea, so we all decided that we'd meet back up at Roger's around nine to go celebrate the engagement.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

Just as we had planned everyone was back at Roger's at nine ready to go to the strip club. It was a newer strip club in Greenwich Village; they had male and female strippers. The guy who owned it swore that deep down everyone was bisexual so he decided to open a place to celebrate that; either way I didn't care, wasn't planning on paying too much attention to anyone but Joanne.

All eight of us made our way into the club and found an empty table towards the back of the club. It was actually very crowded in here; nice though. The stage actually went all the way around the room with a main center stage connected.

"Here's the first round," Collins proclaimed as he sat down eight shots on the table. Everyone took a shot glass, raised it in the air as he toasted, "to Joanne and Maureen, I love you guys." Everyone shot back their straight tequila shot; most of us flinching at it going down.

We all settled down around our table. Even though there were plenty of seats, I sat on Joanne's lap, cuddling into her as much as I could. Roger then showed up with eight drinks; wouldn't tell us what he got, said to just drink it. It was free, so we all did what he said.

"Joanne I think you need a lap dance," Mimi giggled from Roger's lap.

"No thanks Mimi. Not that you aren't good at them, but I'll pass," Joanne replied.

"Not from me, from one of the dancers," a huge grin came over Mimi's face, "they take you on stage….oh you have to do it." And before Joanne or I could stop her, Mimi was running up to the stage paying for Joanne's on stage lap dance.

Shortly after, a tall blond wearing nearly nothing, came up to our table asking for Joanne. I could feel myself getting jealous that this girl was going to be rubbing her business all of my girlfriend; didn't really like the idea. But I trusted Joanne and it was all in good fun anyway, right?

"Damn Maureen, your girlfriend is basically having sex up there," Mark pointed out as the stripper flipped herself upside down on Joanne. "Looks like she's enjoying it too," he laughed.

"You do know that Joanne is going to expect you to learn all of those moves now," Collins added. "Think you can wrap your legs around her neck like that?" amazement came over his face at what this stripper was able to do.

"I don't think Joanne is minding at all," Roger added in, "look at that smile on her face," he pointed out. I wasn't finding it all that funny.

"Chica is enjoying herself," Mimi was on her feet, dancing around, and enjoying watching my girlfriend get a lap dance.

"Come on guys, lay off of Maureen," surprisingly Eden was the one who was defending me. I just sat there, trying not to become too jealous or upset that my girlfriend did seem to be enjoying herself, maybe a little too much.

"That girl was all over you," Mark commented when Joanne returned to our table, slightly flushed I might add. "Was it good?"

"I've had better," Joanne shrugged as she sat down on my lap kissing me. "You ok baby," she quietly asked me, I guess she could tell I wasn't so excited about her little lap dance, "oh baby are you jealous? You want one?" she was baby talking to me, rubbing her hand through my hair.

I couldn't help but smile; she just looked too damn cute. "One from you later," I flirtatiously replied as my hand rubbed the inside of her thigh.

"Get a room," Roger shouted from beside us.

"So what shall we drink next?" Joanne was eagerly asking as she turned around facing everyone.

"How about a peppermint paddy?" Eden exclaimed.

"What in the hell is that?" Collins curiously asked as he finished off his beer.

"Oh, you've never heard of them," we all shook our heads no, "I'll be right back." And with that Eden and Mark were making their way to the bar to get our next round of shots.

"Here we go," Eden proudly stated as she sat down eight shot glasses filled with some sort of liquor and a couple bottles of Hershey syrup.

"What in the hell?" Roger asked as he picked up the Hershey syrup bottle, "Hershey syrup with liquor? What ever happened to good ole straight shots of whiskey or tequila?"

"Oh Roger, just try it," Eden fired back at him. She explained to all of us what to do and each of us took our shot glass and waited for a bottle of syrup.

Joanne reached over and grabbed one of the bottles, pouring the syrup in my mouth for me so that I could take the shot. After I took mine I took the bottle from her and accidentally of course, missed her mouth squirting chocolate all over her lips.

"Here let me get that for you," I seductively leaned over to her, licking off the syrup from her lips.

We all continued to celebrate, Mark and Roger both taking their own turns getting lap dances on stage from two other female strippers. Roger looked as though he was enjoying his more than Mark was; Mark looked slightly embarrassed. Collins was passed out in his chair; half a beer still left in his hand. Mimi, Eden, Joanne, and I all sat at the table watching the boys get their lap dances, laughing and yelling from our seats. Mimi and I decided we needed more drinks so we went up to the bar to get round number….oh hell I have no idea. But when we returned to our table, I felt some jealously flowing into my body. The stripper, who had given Joanne her lap dance, was sitting at our table flirting with her.

"Hey," I bluntly said as I sat down our drinks on the table. I was shooting daggers at this girl; I don't think she even noticed me though.

"Here's your drink Eden," Mimi was quickly handing Eden her drink, reaching in between the stripper and Joanne to do so.

I grabbed my drink and sat down in the seat next to Joanne, pissed off; she hadn't spoken to me since I got back. Damn it I'm suppose to be her fiancé and she's sitting over here flirting with some stripper right in front of me. I could feel my face getting warm; I wanted to hit this damn stripper.

"Hey baby," I felt Joanne reach over and touch my arm, "why are sitting over there for?" she had a very confused look on her face, "come over here." She took hold of my hand leading me back over to sit on her lap. When I sat down her arm was around my waist; pulling me tightly against her. "Oh sorry," she continued, "Maureen this is Maya," she has a name, "Maya this is," she looked up into my eyes, "my fiancé Maureen." Her hand was then on the back of my neck pulling my head down to her, intensely kissing me. Every bit of jealousy or anger I was feeling just minutes ago was gone; she was flaunting me in front of this girl, I loved it.

"Aren't they cute," Mimi piped in from across the table.

Joanne got a little smirk on her face, "well thank you Mimi. I think we are pretty damn cute too."

Mark and Roger finally made it back to the table just as Maya the stripper was leaving. Roger had the cheesiest grin on his face; Mark on the other hand looked rather terrified.

"I didn't know there were women who could do things like that?" he shockingly said as he sat down.

"Ouch, that's got to hurt Eden," I laughed.

"Hey you dated him too," she had a good point. Everyone started laughing, except for Eden and me.

"I don't know Mark, Maureen's done some of those moves on me," Joanne said rather satisfied with her comeback.

"Oohhh, now what Mark," Roger laughed from his seat. Mark didn't say anything; I don't know if he knew what to say. Everyone else was loosing it; I was making out with my girlfriend.

"You two have got to stop that," Mark disgustingly remarked.

"Oh leave them alone Mark, it's cute," Eden sweetly fired back at him, "I wish you'd be more romantic with me out in public."

"I'm romantic," Mark argued. Eden just rolled her eyes.

Collins finally rejoined the living and was over at the bar flirting with some guy. I was happy for him though; he hasn't dated anyone since Angel died. I don't think I've even seen him flirting with anyone else since Angel.

Roger and Mimi had gone to the bathroom about an hour ago. As they were walking off, Mimi remarked that she wanted to add one more public place to their list. So I'm pretty sure they are having sex right now; glad I went to the bathroom already.

Mark and Eden were snuggled up to each other; both of them passed out. They actually looked very cute there together. I'm glad that Mark has found someone who makes him happy; his eyes light up when he sees or even talks about Eden. And even though Eden and I haven't ever been on the greatest of terms; she is actually kind of nice for the most part. I'm glad to some extent that Joanne has someone who cares that much about her happiness besides me of course; I just think Eden went a little psycho with wanting Joanne to be happy.

Joanne was presently straddling me in my chair. Her fingers were running through my massive curls; my hands were on her ass. I love her so much; I never knew that loving some much this much was ever possible. There she was this gorgeous, intelligent, sexy woman sitting on my lap and she was mine forever.

"Hey Maureen," she quietly spoke as she traced her thumb down my jaw bone, resting it under my chin then pulling my lips to hers. "I love you," she whispered right before she kissed me. Our lips stayed locked together, compassionately moving against one another's. The room went silent to me; the only person I knew that was even around me was Joanne. Every movement of her lips, her hands, it all felt more intense, more passionate than ever before. Slowly she pulled away from me; slowly everything else came back into focus.

"Hey Joanne," I eagerly stated, "we're getting married!"

**So what did you all think? Please review! Thanks for reading!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Holy shit it actually worked...I've been trying to upload this chapter since Saturday. So finally here it is! The last chapter! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this fic, much love to you all. I hope you like how I ended this fic. Longest chapter by far for this fic, so sit back and enjoy!**

**SET FIVE YEARS LATER**

(Angel's POV)

It's been eight years now since I've been watching over my family. It's been hard sometimes to see them going through some rough patches and not being able to be there to comfort them. Or to see them going through wonderful, joyous occasions and not be able to share in their happiness. But part of me knows that each of them know that I'm there with them, celebrating or consoling them in each of their lives.

The past five years have brought some of the greatest moments in each of their lives though. Mark finally found the love of his life, Eden. She is great for him. They had some trouble because of Eden's past, but they made it through, getting married about four years ago. Eden was actually pregnant with their oldest son, Jacob Thomas when they were married; they didn't tell anyone this, but I think everyone figured it out. Then only a year later they welcomed Dylan Mark into the family. These two boys are two of the most rambunctious kids I've ever seen, but absolutely adorable. Mark continues making films; finally getting some recognition for them. Eden is still making her way up the ladder in corporate America; she's made it up to Vice President of her company. They live in the Upper East Side now, nice little place; their completely in love.

Roger and Mimi finally got married as well. They've been married about three years now. They too have moved out of Alphabet City. They also have a place in the Upper East Side; not too far from Mark and Eden. Both of them have had a few close calls lately with their health, but they have each other which I think makes them stronger. Roger has finally broken into the music world; seems very happy with his career. Mimi quit the CatScratch finally. She opened a dance studio which seems to keep her in high spirits, seeing all of those little kids chasing their dreams.

Oh my sweet Collins. I was so worried about him when I first left him. He seemed so depressed and lonely. But he had the rest of them; I'm so glad they were there for him. But then finally about four years ago Collins met someone and then a year later was moving in with him and his son. He seems like he is truly in love. I know he still loves me though, he talks to me every now and then; and even though he can't physically hear me talking back to him, I know he hears me in his heart.

Then there is Joanne and Maureen; those two have really come through a lot to be together. They got married shortly after their engagement; it was beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen two people look more beautiful and more in love than those two did that day. The last five years for them though have seemed to be the best years of their relationship. I hardly ever see them fighting anymore and when they do it's just little spats over what toys to buy the kids for their birthday or Christmas. Then usually they are quickly making up, having crazy sex; let me just say damn those two go at it a lot. Joanne is still working at the law firm; making her way up now so she doesn't seem to have to work as crazy hours as she once did. Maureen stays home with the kids; though she still finds time for an occasional protest or two. They've adopted three kids now; actually introducing the newest member to the rest of the family tonight at the Life. They have a place over in Midtown East in Gramercy. They moved there shortly after the trials were over. Thankfully Steve got what was coming to him. He was sentenced for a total of twenty years in prison; since he didn't technically rape Joanne that was the harshest sentencing they could ask for. But there is no chance for parole, so thankfully he is out of their lives. I always knew these two would make it. They love each other too much; the passion they share for one another is unbelievable.

* * *

(Joanne's POV)

I walked into our apartment, cherishing the silence. It never seemed to be quiet for too long around our place anymore, so when it was quiet for those few moments, I always made a point to stop and enjoy it.

I had just made it back from the grocery store and was putting away the Captain Crunch, fruit rollups, and baby formula when I nearly fell flat on my ass, tripping over Adam's rollerblades that he had left in the middle of the kitchen floor.

"Adam I thought I told you to put these up," I scolded the little four year old as I entered his bedroom.

"Sorry Momma," he apologized walking over to me taking them from my hands. He was so adorable it was hard to get mad at him. He was Maureen and mine's oldest son. We adopted him when he was about five months old. He had straight dark hair that he liked to keep long, well just below his ears. Maureen was very adamant about letting the kids be individuals; so Adam's hair length is something I never argued about, it's kind of cute on him anyway. He was a skinny little guy and tall for his age; I just loved him so much.

"Hey Momma," he gently spoke from his floor where he was coloring; "do you want to color with me?" He looked up at me with his big brown eyes, smiling ear to ear.

"Honey Momma would love to, but she has to go wake up Mattie and Mommy ok," I told him as I bent down kissing him on the top of his head. "Maybe later tonight though ok."

He bent his head back, once again smiling, "ok," he excitedly replied.

I walked out into the living room to check on Maureen. She had fallen asleep while she was rocking Mattie; who we adopted when she was two weeks old. When I walked in, Mattie was curled up in Maureen's arms, both of them looked so peaceful, so beautiful.

"Wake up baby," I softly whispered as I bent over kissing Maureen on the lips. She stirred ever so slightly as she opened her eyes. I just stood there and stared at how perfect they looked together.

"What?" she asked me.

"Nothing, just admiring my beautiful wife and daughter." She reached out her hand pulling on my shirt, leading me back down to her lips. As we pulled away I reached down to take Mattie out of her arms. Mattie was absolutely gorgeous even at two years old. She had caramel colored skin, the tightest dark ringlets, and when her eyes were open her bright green eyes would light up the room. She was my angel. Mattie definitely had Maureen's personality, but she was Momma's angel.

Maureen stood up wrapping her arms around my waist from behind me, laying her head on my shoulder, staring down at Mattie in my arms. "I feel very lucky," she whispered to me, "I have the greatest kids and the best wife anyone could ask for." I leaned over and quickly gave her a peck.

"I'm going to go lay her down, I'll be right back." I whispered to her; she slapped my ass as I walked out of the room.

I walked Mattie to her bedroom, gently laying her down in her princess bed. The headboard was shaped like a crown and she had mirrors and any thing that glitters hanging up everywhere; she was definitely Maureen's daughter.

As I walked back down the hall I saw Maureen standing gazing down into the baby bed. We had just adopted our third child, a little girl, a few days ago. We were actually going to be introducing her to the family later tonight when we all meet up at the Life. I walked into the room, wrapping my arms around Maureen as we stood there gazing down at our beautiful daughter. She had pale skin and hardly any hair to speak of, but then again she was only five days old.

After we stood there and just stared at her, not speaking to one another we walked back into the living room and collapsed on the couch. Having three kids was no picnic, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Maureen lay down on the couch, resting her head in my lap. "Where's Adam?" a worried tone entering into her voice.

"He's fine; he's in his room coloring," I calmly told her; playing with her hair.

"Joanne are you happy?"

"Of course I'm happy, why would you ask me a thing like that?"

"I don't know," she sat up, snuggling up against me, "I just wonder if this is what you saw happening with your life."

"Maureen, look at me," I reached my hand to her face making her eyes turn to meet mine, "I've never been happier in my entire life. I have three wonderful children and the sexiest wife I could imagine." I saw a slight smirk appear on her face. "I love you baby."

"I love you too," she said as she straddled me on the couch. She slowly leaned towards me, our lips connecting into a soft, warm embrace. Having three kids you didn't get to steal too many moments like this. She stood up, taking a hold of my hands, "let's go to the bedroom," she quietly said.

As we turned to head down the hallway, here came Adam bouncing into the living room. "Mommy," he screamed as he ran and jumped into Maureen's arms. "Are we going to go see Uncle Roger tonight?" the little boy asked.

"Later we are. We are going to go show him your new little sister," Maureen told him as he leaped out of her arms. He started dancing around the room in excitement that he got to go see Roger. Adam and Roger have always had this connection with one another; there was something special between the two of them. While we stood there watching him dance around in excitement, I pulled Maureen over towards me, engulfing her into my arms.

"I'm going to see Uncle Roger, I'm going to see Uncle Roger," Adam kept singing as he continued spinning himself around the living room. Maureen and I stood there giggling at him; holding each other close. He finally stopped, looking over at us with that huge smile of his. "Would you just kiss her already," he exclaimed running over towards us.

I bent down sweeping the little boy off his feet. "You want me to kiss her huh," I started asking him as I was tickling him; his little body squirming in my arms. "Kiss her like this," I reached over kissing his face all over, "or like this," I continued kissing Adam all over his face; with him just laughing, trying to break free.

"Mommy help," he could barely get the words out. So Maureen felt it necessary to come to her son's rescue, now tickling me. Before I knew what was going on they both had me on the ground tickling me to where I could barely even breathe. Finally Adam's little body collapsed on my stomach. "Ha-ha, Mommy got you," he laughed.

I rose up, sitting beside Maureen on the floor, Adam on my lap. "Just wait until next time," I poked him in the stomach causing him to squirm a little more. "Well buddy you probably should go take a nap before you go see Uncle Roger."

"Do I have to?" he cried.

"Yes sir," Maureen said as she stood up pulling Adam off of me, "come on." Maureen carried him back to his bedroom, laying him down for a nap. I stretched out on the floor closing my eyes, complete silence, all three children asleep.

"You taking a nap too?" Maureen asked as she entered back into the room; laying down partially on top of me. "Want me to sing you to sleep?" Maureen's baby talk was coming out.

"Come here," I giggled, wrapping my arms around her pulling her completely on top of me, locking my lips to hers. I could feel her hands slide underneath my shirt, stroking my stomach and chest. My hands slid below her pants, rubbing her ass, pulling her closer to me. "Umm baby," I hesitantly whispered.

"Yes," she panted; her lips now on my neck.

Reluctantly I continued, "We probably shouldn't be doing this in the middle of the living room floor. Adam or Mattie could walk in."

Maureen disappointingly agreed, "I know," she got up off of me, straightening up her clothes. "I love these kids, but they can sure put a damper on the love life."

"Tell me about it," I agreed sitting up beside her. A sneaky grin came across my face as I got an idea, "I do need to take a shower."

"Let's go," Maureen was quickly on her feet, dragging me by the hand into the bathroom.

Maureen and I were quickly undressing each other, stumbling into the shower; our hands all over each other. Even though we found it hard sometimes to share these intimate moments with one another with now three kids in the apartment, some how we always managed. Actually our sex life has possibly been even better than before we had the kids; it's just now we have to be aware of where we are at, sex is typically restricted to the bathroom or our bedroom now. Her hands felt so smooth running all over my body; my heart was racing in anticipation of where they would go next. My hands traced her figure, reaching parts of her that I knew I could bring her pure satisfaction. She had me pressed against the wall, her mouth pressed tightly to my own, her tongue intruding into my mouth. We both continued to satisfy one another until we both seemed to collapse into each other's arms.

"Wow baby," Maureen panted, "when did you learn to do that with your tongue?" she looked up at me with satisfaction and amazement in her eyes.

I just laughed, "so you liked it?"

She pulled me in closer to her, the warm water still running over our bodies, "very much so." Her lips were now kissing and sucking on my neck; looks like we are starting round two. "Damn it," she proclaimed as she buried her face into my chest as the baby began crying.

"I'll get her," I reassuringly told her as I quickly got out of the shower redressing and running into the nursery.

Maureen eventually made her way out of the bathroom and walked into the living room where I was feeding the baby. She didn't look too pleased that we had to stop earlier, but as soon as she saw that beautiful little girl in my arms, her eyes lit up, leaning over kissing her on the forehead.

"What time do we have to be at the Life?" she asked me as she crashed on the couch.

"Mimi called earlier, said about six."

"Wow," she exclaimed looking at her watch realizing it was already four thirty, "so we should probably be getting the kids ready soon huh?"

"Probably," I just stared at her seeing how she still had not moved from the couch.

"I'll go wake up Mattie, she's been asleep for awhile and get her ready," she mumbled as she stood up walking pass me, ever so gently kissing both the baby and me.

About an hour later Mattie came into the living room where I was wrestling with Adam to get his shoes on. "Do you like my dress Momma?" her sweet little voice asked as she twirled around.

"You look beautiful angel face," I told her; a huge smile coming over her face. "Where's your coat, we're going to be late."

"Mommy is getting it," she said as she continued twirling herself around watching her dress blow up around her.

Shortly after Maureen came walking in, baby carriage in one hand and a pile of coats in the other. "You ready?" she asked walking over handing Mattie and Adam their coats.

"Yeah, let me just get the diaper bag," I told her walking into the kitchen making sure we had all the necessities packed up. "Let's go," I exclaimed as I walked over to her wrapping my arm around her, stealing a kiss before leaving.

We walked out into the hallway, Mattie and Adam running to the elevator to see who could push the button. Maureen took hold of my hand as we laughed seeing the two of them so happy. "I love you pookie," she sweetly told me.

"I love you too baby."

* * *

(Mimi's POV)

"Hey honey," I hear Roger yell from the living room as I walked into our apartment. "How was your day?" he asked as I joined him on the couch.

"Fine," I was exhausted though. A few years ago I opened my own dance studio, with financial help from Joanne and Maureen. I loved working with all the little girls and boys; it was actually a huge success. There were about six other instructors and around a hundred students in various classes. "So how was your day?" I politely asked.

"Pretty good; my manager called, Spike Lee wants me to write a song for his new movie he's directing."

"Oh baby that's great," I excitedly screamed, wrapping my arms around his neck kissing him. Roger had finally wrote his one great song; which turned him into a household name. He has a few songs out on various soundtracks and even a billboard top record; you can't go anywhere without hearing 'One Night in Heaven' his current hit single. Little girls in my dance classes absolutely love when Roger makes surprise visits to the studio. "So are you going to do it?"

"I think so," he calmly stated, "he told me that I have pretty much complete control of the song. He's sending me a script of the movie so I can figure something out and see what he thinks of my ideas."

"Honey that's great," I'm so proud of him. I pushed him down onto the couch, lying on top of him, nibbling at his ear. We still had a little while before we had to leave for the Life to meet the newest member of the family; so we might as well make the best of our time.

* * *

(Collins' POV)

"Hey Collins," I heard Jonathan screaming as he walked through the front door, "you here?" Jonathan was my boyfriends' son from his previous marriage. I had moved in with him and his dad about three years ago. Jonathan was seven and a child prodigy on the piano. He was a great kid; I loved him like he was my own.

"In here Jonathan," I answered him from the kitchen.

"Oh hey," he said as he threw his book bag down on the kitchen table, grabbing himself a coke from the refrigerator. "Where's dad?"

"Just called said he was finishing up grading some papers in the office and he'd be home shortly." Justin, that's my boyfriend, was a professor of Psychology at NYU. We met when I took my job back there about four years ago. He had been married and was recently divorced when we first met; his wife had been cheating on him, but he said that he blamed himself somewhat because he wasn't giving her that intimate part of himself as he was struggling with his sexuality. "So you ready to meet your newest little cousin?"

"I guess, but why did Aunt Maureen and Aunt Joanne have to adopt another girl?"

I just laughed. Jonathan was in the 'I hate girls stage' no matter how old they were. "I'm not sure, but we have to be going soon," I told him, laughter still in my voice, "so you better go get your shower."

"Alright," he said and ran off.

"Jonathan in the shower," I heard Justin ask from behind me when he walked into the living room where I was watching television.

"Yeah," I told him as I stood up kissing him hello.

"So have you heard from anyone, we still meeting up at the Life?" he asked sitting his briefcase down; sitting down beside me on the couch.

"As far as I know yea," I told him draping my arm around his shoulders. "I'm excited to meet her," it was hard to contain my excitement. Joanne and Maureen were such great moms; I loved seeing them so happy, they deserve it.

"I can tell," he said looking over at the huge smile that was across my face. "I can't believe they have three kids," he continued, focusing his attention back on the television.

"Yeah, but somehow it works for them. I've never seen either of them happier." I pulled Justin closer against me thinking about how happy I was to have him and Jonathan.

We both must have fallen asleep because Jonathan was soon shaking us both screaming, "Dad, Collins wake up we got to go." I opened my eyes realizing how long we must have slept. We hurried and got ready and rushed out the door to meet the precious addition to the family.

* * *

(Eden's POV)

"Jacob get off of your brother!" I screamed as I walked into their bedroom to find Jacob on top of Dylan hitting him. "Jacob I said get off," I screamed louder this time, pulling the four year off of his brother. "Jacob go sit down in the living room, I'll be in there to deal with you in a minute," I scolded. I then turned to my three year old who was lying in the floor, whimpering obviously trying to hold back his tears. "Are you ok Dylan?" I sweetly asked him as I helped him to his feet.

"Yes," he mumbled, wiping some tears that had fallen down his cheeks. His bright blue eyes stared into mine; his lip quivering. Dylan looked exactly like Mark did at this age; bright blond hair with his bright blue eyes already hidden behind his glasses. He was absolutely adorable; just like his dad.

"What happened?"

"Jacob called me a shithead, so I pushed him," my eyes widened at what I heard him just say, "what's a shithead mommy?" his voice sounding so innocent.

"Something you shouldn't ever say again. It's not a nice word." I sternly told him.

"What's going on with Jacob?" I heard Mark asking from the doorway.

I turned around facing him, covering Dylan's ears, "he first called Dylan a shithead and then started hitting him."

"I'll go talk to him," Mark firmly told me as he was quickly making his way back to Jacob.

"Is Jacob going to get in trouble Mommy," Dylan asked me, a little thrill in his voice at the idea that his brother may be in trouble.

"You don't need to worry about that," I told him as I stood to leave his room, "put your toys away," I continued as I was walking out of his room, "we have to leave soon."

I walked back into the living room just in time to see Mark scolding Jacob sending him to sit at the kitchen table, their time out chair. Jacob walked by me, looking like he too could cry now.

"Those boys drive me crazy sometimes Eden," Mark muttered as he sat down on the couch.

"I completely agree," I added as I sat down on his lap, "but I love them anyhow." I reached down kissing Mark's soft lips. "So did you get the contracts signed and everything?" I asked as I pulled my lips away.

"Yea, everything looks good, we finish casting next week." Mark had been approached about directing a full length feature film starring Matthew McConaughey. I wasn't sure about all the details of the movie, just that Matthew McConaughey was in it. Mark had done some critically acclaimed Indie films; receiving some awards from various festivals like the Sundance Festival. He was soon becoming well known in the directing world; I was so happy for him and so proud of him.

"Don't forget we have to be at the Life at six," I reminded him.

"Oh I totally forgot," he said, covering his face with his hand.

"Mark, how could you forget?" I surprisingly asked. "Maureen called here almost everyday last week talking about her." Maureen was a very proud mommy; it was very cute to see her with them. Her face literally glows when she sees them. I wonder if her kids ever drive her crazy like mine do me.

"I know. I'll go get ready." He seemed absolutely exhausted. But I don't think anything could keep him from going tonight. As much as he seemed to be dreading it right now, I know he couldn't be more excited to meet this little girl.

"Dylan come on let's get a bath so we can go see Aunt Maureen and Aunt Joanne's new baby," I told him as I walked in scooping him up off the floor.

I took Dylan to get his bath and then let him go pick out what he wanted to wear. Mark and I always let the kids pick out what they wanted to wear at first, but then would intervene if necessary on their choice of clothing. Mark had gotten ready and then helped to get Jacob ready as well. So the three men sat and watched some television while I went and got ready myself. When I came back in ready to leave, Jacob and Dylan were curled up on Mark's lap, all three of them asleep. It was absolutely the cutest thing I have ever seen. Of course I pulled out the camera taking a picture before waking them up.

I then woke them up, Mark grabbing his camera before we headed off to the Life.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

"You ready," I took a deep breath squeezing Joanne's hand tighter as she swung the door open to the Life.

"Look who's here!" Mimi screamed in delight from the table.

"Uncle Roger," Adam was running over to Roger, who swept the little boy up in his arms, squeezing him tightly.

"Hey little man," Roger said as he put Adam back on his feet.

"Come meet Brookie, Uncle Roger," Adam said as he took hold of his hand dragging him over to me.

"Everyone," I proudly spoke, "meet Brooklyn Kesa Johnson-Jefferson," I couldn't help but smile as I lifted her out of her carrier showing her off to all of my friends. Joanne stood proudly beside me looking down at our daughter; her arm wrapped tightly around my waist.

"She's gorgeous," Eden cried. I looked over at Joanne who was beaming with pride.

"Oh my gosh, you guys," Mimi squealed. "Can I hold her?"

"Of course," I gently handed over my precious little daughter to Mimi who gently started rocking her. Roger stood beside her, Adam again in his arms, staring at Brooklyn. Roger and Mimi's faces both were lit up.

Everyone was trying to crowd around Mimi to get a better look at her. Jacob and Dylan were being held up to see her; each of them gently kissing her forehead saying hello to her. Joanne and I stepped back to let everyone get a better look at our daughter; our arms wrapped around one another. I leaned towards her pulling her into a deep kiss; shortly thereafter being distracted by Mattie pulling at my pants.

"Mommy I want to see Brookie," I laughed at how she was getting jealous that everyone was paying attention to her baby sister.

"Go ahead, tell Aunt Eden you want to see her," Eden was now holding Brooklyn, telling Mark she wanted a little girl; Mark looked scared. "I'm sure Uncle Mark will pick you up to see her."

Collins then walked over to Joanne and me, hugging us both. "Congratulations you two," he beamed, "she's a very lucky little girl." Joanne and I both smiled, squeezing each other closer.

"Guys come on and sit down," Roger was yelling over at us.

Everyone made their way over to the table. Our table had grown quite bigger now. There was Mark, Eden, and their two boys, Collins, Justin, and Jonathan, Mimi and Roger, Joanne and me and our three kids, and of course Angel's seat. Brooklyn was continually being passed around the table; everyone wanting a chance to hold her. Every time she was passed to another person, she'd start to squeal and I'd immediately be checking on who had her and what was happening. Joanne would giggle ever so softly and rub my leg telling me that everything was ok.

"So when is number four coming?" Collins laughed as he passed Brooklyn to Justin.

"This is the last one," Joanne quickly replied. Apparently I didn't look as sure as Joanne.

"Are you sure about that Joanne? Maureen doesn't seem to think so," Collins commented back.

"What?" she surprisingly questioned, turning to face me.

"We never talked about if this was the last one pookie?" I pouted.

"Oh geez," she covered her face with her hands; scared that I may want a fourth child. I don't think that I do; I just love to see her sweat sometimes.

"I think its Mark and Eden's turn again next?" Roger chuckled.

"I think your right," Mimi jumped in, trying to take the focus off of Joanne.

Eden looked over at Mark, rubbing his back, "I think so too. Mark we need a little girl."

Mark now looked as scared as Joanne if not more. "I think two is enough." Eden pouted a little more to him, Mark was turning red, and the rest of us except Joanne were just laughing at them. "Joanne, I think we need a drink," he quickly stated knowing Joanne was on his side on this one.

"Good idea," she immediately agreed and followed Mark to the bar.

"You two have them a nervous wreck," Collins commented to Eden and me as they walked away.

Eden and I just laughed. Joanne did look a little freaked out that I had mentioned a fourth kid; Mark looked terrified at the idea of a third. Surely she knew that I was only half kidding; three was fine with me, I just didn't want to completely throw the idea of a fourth out the window. We just got Brooklyn; we didn't need another one anytime soon anyhow.

Shortly Mark and Joanne returned with drinks for everyone; both of them looking a little more relaxed than when they left.

"Where's my baby?" the proud momma asked as she sat back down beside me.

"Oh Mimi saw one of her dance instructors and wanted to go show Brooklyn off to her," I smiled rubbing Joanne's back.

"Momma where did you go?" Mattie was jumping up on Joanne's lap wrapping her arms around her neck.

"I went with Uncle Mark to get something to drink," she told the little girl squeezing her into a hug. "Where's your brother?"

"He's playing pinball with Jonathan, Jacob, and Dylan." She responded pointing across the restaurant over to the pinball machine where the four boys were.

"So did you decide who's having the next kid?" Roger laughed knowing bringing up this topic again would cause not only Joanne to become uneasy, but Mark as well which Roger found hilarious.

"Shut up Roger," Mark and Joanne both sternly spouted.

We all sat around talking for quite a while; mainly about everyone's jobs and the kids. Brooklyn had finally made it back in my arms. I just sat their and stared at her; I couldn't believe that she was mine. Mattie was still curled up in Joanne's lap; asleep by this point. All the boys were still playing the video machines; we could hear them screaming from across the restaurant.

"Well hey guys," Joanne spoke up, "we should probably get these two back home," she continued referring to the two sleeping kids in our arms.

"Yeah," Eden agreed, "it's almost Dylan and Jacob's bedtime too."

Mark went over to collect the boys, literally dragging Jacob away. Adam quickly latched onto Roger, not wanting him to leave. So Roger agreed to take Adam next weekend; so maybe we can get someone to take Mattie and Brooklyn then Joanne and I could have the weekend to ourselves. We all hugged and said our goodbyes; everyone again telling Joanne and me how beautiful Brooklyn was. Then we all left to go back into our hectic lives, agreeing to again meet next week for dinner.

* * *

(Maureen's POV)

We walked into the apartment; completely exhausted. Brooklyn was sleeping in her carrier; Mattie was asleep in Joanne's arms; and Adam was holding tight to Joanne's hand barely able to walk he was so tired. I went and put Brooklyn down in her crib watching my precious baby girl sleep for a while. Joanne took Mattie and Adam both to their beds, tucking them in and reading Adam his favorite bedtime story.

I walked out into the living room to find Joanne lying on the couch. She hadn't even taken her shoes off; she looked like she just collapsed and hadn't moved. I quietly walked over to her, kneeling beside the couch. "Wake up pookie," I whispered into her ear.

"I'm awake," she groggily responded, her eyes remaining shut tight.

"Good," I chirped, lifting her legs up so I could sit down. I took her shoes off and started massaging her feet for her. "Feel better?" I asked once I had rubbed her feet for a while.

"Much, thank you baby," she mumbled. "Come here," she moved up on her side, making room for me to lie down beside her. I cuddled up beside her; her wrapping her arm around my waist holding me tightly against her. "Today was nice," she commented.

"Yea it was," I yawned; becoming more comfortable the closer I snuggled into Joanne. After a while I jokingly asked, "so do you think we'll be the next ones to add another member to the family?"

"What?" Joanne shot up from behind me. "You can't be serious Maureen, we just adopted Brooklyn not even a week ago," she was talking fast, a habit of hers when she got nervous.

I turned over looking up at her, laughing at how frantic she had quickly become. "Pookie calm down, I'm just kidding." I could quickly see the relief in her eyes. "I'm just fine with three, I love our kids," I paused, "let's just not completely close to the door to a fourth kid," I questionably mentioned.

"We can leave the door cracked," she compromised. She started shaking her head at me as I couldn't contain the smirk on my face, "I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

"You could kiss me," I seductively told her.

"I guess I could if I wanted to," she nonchalantly responded.

"What do you mean if you wanted to?" I shockingly asked.

"Wonder if I don't want to kiss you," she shrugged.

"Well I want you too," I pouted; flashing her my puppy dog eyes, knowing well that she couldn't resist them.

"Well you'll live," she remarked as she got off of the couch heading back to the bedroom. I just sat there in complete shock; if this was just some joke she was doing very well with keeping it up. But I knew it had to be; since when did my pookie not want to kiss me.

I walked back to our bedroom to find Joanne messing with the CD player. Soon I heard 'Have I Told You Lately?' softly playing from the stereo. Joanne turned to face me, reaching her arms out to me. Slowly I shut the bedroom door behind me and walked over to her, wrapping my arms tightly around her as we started to dance.

"Do you want to kiss me now?" I pouted once again.

"I will always want to kiss you," she sweetly told me as she leaned her lips closer to mine. "Baby I love you so much," she whispered, her lips so close to mine now they were brushing up against mine as she spoke.

"Just kiss me," I told her.

She pushed her lips up against mine; tightly holding my body up against her own. We continued to kiss for the rest of the song. It was so filled with passion, love, and trust for one another. As the song ended I laid Joanne down on the bed, climbing on top of her. I just laid there on top of her for a moment, staring into her deep brown eyes seeing all the love she has for me. I know what we share with one another is something amazing; something we are lucky to have found and something I truly cherish. She's my best friend, my lover, the mother of my children, my wife, and my soul mate. I leaned back down to her, connecting our lips once again. We began to make love, sharing our souls with one another, expressing our love to each other.

Afterwards we snuggled together under the covers; both clothed again knowing that any moment a child could start crying needing one of us. One thing I have learned since Joanne and I had kids was that you never go to sleep naked. You don't need to be worrying about dressing while your child is screaming that they need you or have one of the kids walk into the room and then you worry about keeping fully covered.

"Hey Joanne"

"Yea," she mumbled, her head resting on my chest.

"I was thinking. Do you think you can take some time off soon and we could get away for a few days?"

"Maybe, why?" her expression filled with curiosity.

"Just thought it would be nice," I smiled realizing that Joanne liked my idea.

"Ok baby, I'll try," she told me leaning back up to me, passionately kissing me once again.

"Mommy, Momma," I could hear from the other side of our bedroom door, "are you awake?"

Joanne sat up in bed, "Adam you can come in."

The little boy pushed the door open standing just inside our bedroom.

"What's wrong?" I worriedly asked him.

"I had a nightmare," his little voice shaking as he spoke. "Can I sleep with you?"

I looked over at Joanne, who returned my smile. "Of course you can honey," she told him as he ran back to his room to get his stuffed cow Angel; he slept with it every night.

"We have the cutest kids," I said raising up kissing Joanne once again.

Adam came back a few moments later, Angel in hand, crawling up from the bottom of the bed, squeezing in between Joanne and me. I just stared at him, mesmerized by him just sleeping. Joanne laid her arm across Adam so that her hand was resting on me. And our feet were soon wrapped around one another's as well.

"I love you," she softly told me.

"I love you too," I said as I leaned over to her giving her a good night kiss.

She laid her head back down on her pillow and she too was soon asleep. I stayed awake for a while longer, just watching the two of them sleeping. I couldn't take my eyes off of them; they both looked so peaceful, so happy lying there asleep. It made me happy to know that I was the cause for some of their happiness and that they were the cause of mine. I slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of my three wonderful children, the greatest friends a girl could ask for, but mainly dreaming of the love of my life my amazing wife.

I'm living in paradise and it's perfect.

**So what did you all think? Please review this chapter and the whole fic in general. Let me know what you liked and what you didn't; what I was better at writing vs what needs some work...I'd appreciate all the feedback you could give me. I have another idea for a fic, but I'm not sure if I'm going to start it now seeing how I'm moving soon and wouldn't want to leave all of you hanging while I settled in to my new place. However, I was considering writing some oneshots...anyone have any ideas/suggestions/challenges let me know because I have no clue. Also, I know some of you enjoyed trying to pick out some connections in my fic...well every characters name I used in this fic (with the exception of Katie...Maureen's friend in the flashback) is connected to RENT or one of the RENT actors. Some names will require more than one connection to be made (like Eden and Brooklyn) just to give you a hint. As always hope you enjoyed it and THANKS FOR READING!**


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